CRIMINAL CASE NO. 167 OF 2010
COURT: Defendant you have pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault and three counts of incest.
The first offence of indecent assault happened when your daughter was about 11 years old. You reached your hand under her clothes; you touched her breast and private parts thus giving her a most nasty introduction to the sins of the flesh.
You did not stop there. Instead, you had sex with her when she was not yet 13 years old, although you did put on a condom on each occasion and you ejaculated. From the very relationship your daughter was in a particularly vulnerable position. And you, as her father abused and exploited her dependence and inexperience and made her succumb to such dominance.
Whilst the victim impact report says that your daughter exhibited no significant post traumatic symptoms, the family which you and your wife have built with your gainful and stable employment has now been torn apart by your selfish and self gratifying acts.
Your behaviour was appalling, despicable and disgraceful. Instead of protecting your own daughter you inflicted harm on her yourself. You even shamelessly told the police on your arrest that you had sex with her because she wanted you to.
You pleaded guilty in the Magistracy but applied to reverse your plea to the three incest charges before me and your application was refused.
Normally, in this type of offences the greatest mitigating factor would be one of a guilty plea which spares the victim the ordeal of testifying in court. By your futile attempt to reverse your plea you will lose your full one-third discount which a guilty plea would normally attract.
I would like to commend your daughter for her courage and braveness to come forward to make a complaint, albeit that her delay in making the complaint was as a result of fear of disrupting relationship between mother and father.
Sadly she told the clinical psychologist that she still missed you and cared about you and she is worried about you being sentenced to gaol. I am afraid that in your case her worries will become a reality.
I have perused letters written by your victim daughter, your wife, your other two daughters, your son and your parents, all asking for mercy and clemency on your behalf.
Whilst your counsel has repeatedly said that you are a very confused individual and has asked for mercy on your behalf, I am minded to show you no more than the circumstances justify.
In the circumstances for a man of hitherto good character, I judge that for the indecent assault charge, the appropriate starting point is one of 12 months’ imprisonment.
Whilst for each of the incest charges a starting point of 6 years. I am minded to give you a 25 per cent discount for the plea to the three incest charges after the attempt to reverse plea failed.
After the discount for his guilty plea he is sentenced to each charge as follows. Charge 1 he is given 30 per cent discount, 8 months. Each of the other three incest charges, 54 months which is 4½ years’ imprisonment.
Taking into account totality, I am of the view that a global overall sentence of 9 years is called for. The defendant is given a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea and is sentenced to 6 years and 9 months.
I order that 7 months out of the 1st charge, 10 months each out of the third and the 4th charge to run consecutively to the sentence in respect of charge 2, that is, 4½ years’ imprisonment, making a total sentence of 81 months’ imprisonment, that is, 6 years and 9 months. That is the sentence I pass.