Vile stepfather who sexually abused his stepdaughter, 12, while claiming to be checking her for rashes tried to silence her by offering to buy her a car
- The man would run his hands over intimate parts of her body during the ‘checks’
- He assaulted her monthly over several years and also abused her younger sister
- The stepfather admitted his acts but denied they were sexual, a court has heard
- He will be a registered sex offender and was was hit a lifetime restraining order
A stepfather who sexually abused his stepdaughter while pretending to check her body for rashes tried to silence her by buying the 12-year-old a car.
The Perth man touched the girl intimately and took off her clothes while claiming he was looking for a rash.
The assault occurred monthly over several years but the stepfather denied his acts were sexual, the Western Australia District Court heard.
He had also sexually abused the girl’s younger sister.
A stepfather-of-two girls who sexually abused his 12-year-old stepdaughter as he conducted ‘rash checks’ tried to silence her by bribing her with a car (stock image)
He faced court on Thursday having been convicted of five charges ranging from sexual penetration of a person under 13 to indecent assault.
The man was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail, WA Today reported.
But the sentence was backdated to July 25 to account for the time he had already spent in custody.
He was hit with a lifetime violence restraining order against his two stepdaughters and will be a registered sex offender.
When the eldest girl began to feel uncomfortable, he tried to bribe her with a car.
He had previously ordered her not to tell anyone because he said people might ‘get the wrong idea’.
She said she had felt betrayed by the ordeal and that her ‘whole life had been turned [upside] down’, according to her victim impact statement.
He was hit with a lifetime violence restraining order against his two stepdaughters and will be a registered sex offender (stock image)
Her youngest sister had also become a victim of her stepfather’s sexual assault after he forced her to touch him while they showered together.
She resorted to self-harm as a means to cope with the anguish.
The girls kept tight-lipped about the abuse and did not come forward until the relationship between their mother and stepfather was over.
Judge Michael Bowen said both girls looked to their father as a source of ‘security of warmth’, which is a ‘position of trust’ he had ‘abused’.