a day ago
Brother jailed for 'depraved' violent sexual abuse committed against sisters over several years
Depraved and violent torture is how an ACT Supreme Court judge has described the actions of a brother found guilty of sexually abusing his two sisters over several years, as he was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in jail.
In December last year a jury found the offender guilty of more than 20 charges including incest, acts of indecency, unlawful confinement and rape.
But before the trial even began there were pleas of guilty to at least 10 other similar charges, which included offences against a child under 10 and others against a child under 16, bringing the total number of convictions to 32.
Details of the abuse have been suppressed, but Justice Belinda Baker has described the offences as degrading and of the utmost gravity, having a life-long impact on the victims.
"They spent their childhoods being abused, or fearing imminent abuse, at the hands of their brother," Justice Baker said.
"They both suffer, and will continue to suffer, immensely from the offender's actions.
One sister was under 10 for most of the offending, the other under 12.
The offender was between 14 and 18.
Justice Baker noted a "number of the offences were accompanied by threats and derogatory insults".
She said while it was true all sexual offences involve a degree of violence, the offences against particularly the younger sister "involved significant additional physical violence of a depraved nature".
In her sentencing remarks Justice Baker also noted any motivation for the offending remained obscure, which was "deeply troubling".
The court heard the offences began before the offender was 14, and before he was criminally responsible.
In other evidence it was revealed he'd been exposed to pornography, when unsupervised, at a young age, and also suffered mental health issues.
"The escalation of the offending to include offences with significant physical violence distinguishes it from cases in which the sexual conduct can be explained by the immaturity of the offender."
Justice Baker found that the offender knew what he was doing was wrong by the time he was 14, and continued to offend for years, escalating the violence against particularly his younger sister.
Justice Baker sentenced the offender to 13-and-a-half years for offences against one sister, and five years and eleven months for the crimes against his other sister.
The sentence is to be suspended after 10 years.
