Judge scolds father

By TREVOR WAHUNE
A MAN who sexually abused his daughter over two years has been jailed for 30 years, with the judge saying “only animals have sex with their children or parents”.
Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika yesterday told the man (whose name we have withheld to protect the identity of the daughter) “only pigs and dogs do that. As human fathers, we are supposed to love and take care of our children, and support them until they are ready to be given away for marriage”.
The man, 39, is from North Waghi in Jiwaka. The incidents happened between Jan 1, 2014, and July 19, 2016, in their family home in Port Moresby, whenever the mother was away.
The girl, in a statement to the court, said she was “abused by a person whom I trusted. My life was restricted. I was forced to stay in the house and not allowed to socialise with my friends. Sometimes I was thinking of committing suicide or running away to other places because my life was not OK. My education was seriously affected.”
She asked the court when sentencing her father to consider the “physical, mental and emotional abuse that I have been through and impose a sentence that would suit the offence”.
“I don’t want to see the accused (father) again and I don’t want any girl to face the life I have been through.”
Justice Sir Gibbs told the man he should have considered that she was “your blood, your very own daughter”.
“I ask myself, ‘What kind of a father are you?’ This is not how normal fathers behave. Your actions fall way short of being called a father,” Sir Gibbs said.
He said the court had a duty to protect young girls and women from sexual intimidation, sexual harassment and sexual abuses “from likeminded perpetrators”.
“Despite being found guilty, you have not shown remorse or apologised to your daughter or your wife for what you did,” he said.
“You have ruined the life of a very young girl, your own daughter. She will now live with the shame and stigma of being abused by her very own father. You have breached this important bond between yourself and your daughter.”
The man had pleaded not guilty to the charge (nine counts) of persistent sexual abuse. But the court found him guilty. Two years and seven months spent in custody while awaiting trial will be deducted from the 30 years. He will serve 27 years and five months.