The ACT Supreme Court has sentenced a man to a total of 18 months’ jail on a child abuse charge. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse and family violence.
A father resigned from his job at a school after the fact he preyed on his young daughter for months was revealed.
The case was a “tragedy of many aspects”, Acting Justice Rebecca Christensen SC said when sentencing the man, who legally can’t be named to protect his daughter’s identity, in the ACT Supreme Court this week.
He and his family were interstate in 2024 when his daughter found his mobile phone under her bed and noticed it had been pointed towards the shower while recording.
The girl, who was aged under 12, looked through the phone and saw it contained four intimate photos and one such video taken of her when she was asleep.
Her father’s genitals could be seen in two of the photos as well.
In addition, she found several more intimate videos of herself taken without her knowledge while the family was interstate.
The girl took the phone and, while in front of her father, told her mother he had been recording her.
The man claimed it must have been an accident or he must have taken the images while sleepwalking. He took the phone, which he used for work, and erased its contents.
But the girl’s mother reported the incident to police, who arrested the man later that year. He admitted taking the images, but denied obtaining sexual gratification from them.
Instead, he claimed the basis of his offending was curiosity about how his daughter had grown since she was a baby.
The man eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of using a child under 12 for the production of child exploitation material.
“He preyed on his young daughter when she was vulnerable, when she was asleep and while she was in the shower,” Acting Justice Christensen said.
“It was disturbing and serious offending.
“There is nothing that the court can do to take back what has occurred.”
The judge said the man gravely breached the trust of his daughter and his family and noted how his offending only stopped when he had been detected.
The girl’s mother spoke about how the crimes had been devastating for her daughter and the rest of their family, while she felt deeply betrayed herself.
Acting Justice Christensen accepted the man had shown remorse and expressed grief about the loss of his relationship with his daughter and her mother.
He wrote a letter for the court in which he said he knew he had “scarred her [his daughter] for the rest of her life”.
The court heard that while the man did hold a job at a school, this was not a teaching position and he resigned after his offences were reported.
He was sentenced to 18 months’ jail, to be suspended after he spent four months behind bars, which means he will be released from custody in November 2025 if he enters into a good behaviour order.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on (02) 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on (02) 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
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