April 15, 2014

A 69-year-old South Burnett man – convicted three times previously for sexual offences against children – will serve a minimum of three months in jail after being sentenced in Kingaroy District Court today on six fresh charges.

The man, who cannot be named as his latest victim was his step-daughter, pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent dealing.

The charges related to historic incidents which occurred when the girl was aged between 9 and 13 years of age.

They related to touching her – both on and under her clothing – and showing her pornography.

Judge Julie Ryrie said a victim impact statement showed the girl, who was now an adult, had suffered lasting affects from the abuse.

“It has had a lasting affect on her ability to maintain relationships,” the judge noted.

She said the man had been sentenced in 1984 in Mackay Court for three offences against a 13-year-old girl and had been placed on a three-year good behaviour bond.

This had occurred before the timeframe of the charges he was now facing.

He had also be convicted twice subsequently: in 1996 in Nanango Magistrates Court on two charges of aggravated assault on a female child (a 13-year-old girl); and in 2012 in the Kingaroy District Court for indecent dealing against a 12-year-old girl, another child that had been under his care.

On the latter occasion, he had been sentenced to four months’ imprisonment and placed on 12 months’ probation.

Judge Ryrie said a psychologist’s report indicated the man had “no insight at all” into his offending.

She said he had taken advantage of the position he had held in the household.

However, the judge indicated that she would have to consider what sentence would have been imposed if these charges had been considered at the same time as the man was sentenced in 2012.

She believed, if they had been considered at that time, he would have been sentenced to 18 months jail.

On this basis, she sentenced him to 14 months’ jail on each count – taking into account the four-month sentence already imposed – to be served concurrently. She fixed a parole eligibility date of July 15, 2014.