Australia: Man rapes stepdaughters for over a decade, jailed for 11 years

Townsville: An Australian who was arrested on the charges of raping his stepdaughters for over a decade, has been sent to 11 years in prison.

According to a Daily Mail report, the 43-year-old accused was in a ‘de facto’ relationship with the victims’ mother. In fact, the victims addressed him as their ‘dad.’

The girls were of the age five and six respectively when the abuse started. The abuse continued until 2015, when both of them turned 15.

The older sibling told the police that her stepfather abused her ‘every night they were alone together.’

The prosecutor was also quoted as saying that the accused had told the victim that he loved her and that it would be their ‘little secret.’

The accused had also allegedly raped the older girl once when the younger girl was sleeping below in her bunk bed and the mother was in the kitchen.

The incident came to light after the victims called a kids’ helpline.

The defence, however, argued that the accused had set up a trust fund for the victims and had also fathered two sons with the victims’ mother, to mitigate the judgement.

The accused was sentenced to eleven years in jail with the court proclaiming him as a serious offender.