THE High Court has sentenced a man convicted of raping and sexually abusing his then 11-year-old stepdaughter for four months in 2022 to a term of 14 years and 10 months.
Justice Waleen George also fixed a non-parole period of 12 years and 10 months.
The court convicted the 43-year-old rapist on March 17 on two counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
Records show the accused, between January 1 and April 1, 2022, raped and indecently assaulted the victim in their home in Waila.
The man would commit the heinous offence while the victim’s biological mother would be doing night shift. He had raised the victim since she was 10 years old.
“You should have protected her but instead you breached that trust. This is a serious breach of trust case,” stated Justice George on May 21.
“You were in a position of power and authority, and you used that to your advantage. You have exposed the complainant to sexual activity at quite a young age, robbing her of her innocence.”
The victim, as per the victim’s impact statement, was left traumatised after the incident and had lost interest in her studies and socialising with family and friends.
The victim further said she was once proud of her chastity but now she had lost it to her stepfather and was extremely depressed.
The accused, in mitigation, submitted that as a father he was shameful of his actions, and, as a sole breadwinner, to his elderly parents who are 71 and 70 years old respectively.
His head sentence was initially 16 years, but this was accordingly reduced following his mitigation and his total remand period of 10 months and 17 days.
