September 2014
Father jailed for 16 years for abusing four members of his family
A father has been jailed for 16 years for abusing four members of his family after a Judge branded his behaviour as a betrayal.
The 45-year-old man molested his daughter, step daughter and two nieces over almost 20 years when they were aged seven to 15.
He abused them when he was putting them to bed and bathing them at his home in Chard, Somerset between the late 1990s and his arrest last year.
The father denied sexually assaulting any of the girls but was found guilty of 17 counts of indecent or sexual assaults and sexual activity with a child by a jury at Taunton Crown Court.
He was jailed for a total of 16 years by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC, sitting at Exeter Crown Court. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order which will restrict his access to children when he is released.
The Judge told him: ”I do not add to your sentence because you contested this case but the result of you doing so was that the four victims were required to re-live what you had subjected them to.
“The four victims were your natural daughter, your stepdaughter and two nieces. They were in your home under your care at the times when you did what you did to them.
“To describe that as a breach of trust would be a gross and wholly inadequate understatement. It was a complete betrayal of your position as father, stepfather and uncle.
“You have done untold damage to all four of them in offences which span from 1997 to 2013, when you were aged 28 to 44 and they were aged as young as seven.”
The judge outlined how the abuse started when the father married a woman with a seven-year-old daughter who he abused while putting her to bed and continued to assault for eight years.
His attentions turned to his own daughter, who was abused when she was seven, and the nieces who were abused while visiting his house.
Mr Lee Bremridge, prosecuting, said the offences have caused severe psychological damage and three have made victim impact statements.
He said: ”They describe having problems with confidence, stress and sleeping. One of the nieces says she has had problems at work, where she becomes upset. She is waiting for counselling.
“The other niece describes having problems at school and all three describe how they have been left feeling terribly upset by what has happened to them. The stepdaughter has described the effect the abuse had on her childhood.”
Mrs Emma Martin, defending, said the father was a hard working man who had never been in trouble before and who still enjoys the support of other members of his family.
She presented character references, including one from another daughter and said: ”They indicate he is a man who can deal appropriately with female members of his family.”
