Adelaide man jailed for sexual abuse of children, dog and chickens

An Adelaide man has been jailed after admitting he sexually abused his three-year-old daughter, his young stepdaughter, the pet dog and the family’s chickens.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, committed most of the sexual acts against his stepdaughter while she was asleep.

The stepdaughter was aged between nine and 11 at the time of the “gross and disturbing” offence.

The court heard the man, aged in his 20s, committed penetrative sex acts with a number of chickens and also attempted penetrative sex acts with the family dog.

“You abused and betrayed in the most serious way possible your position as father of the children to satisfy your abnormal sexual desires,” District Court Judge Paul Muscat said in sentencing.

The man was only caught when he wrote a letter to his then-wife, admitting his crimes.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of bestiality, one count of persistent sexual exploitation of a child and one count of aggravated indecent assault.

The court heard the man had been abused and had sexual contact with dogs as a child. He also had “distorted attitudes” and began to feel “aroused by the wrongfulness of his sexual behaviour”, a psychologist found.

The man’s ex-wife, and mother of the two children, wrote to the court to outline how the behaviour destroyed the family.

“We didn't do anything wrong; my beautiful innocent children certainly never ever deserved to have such terrible violation occur on their bodies and hearts,” she said.

Judge Muscat took into account the man’s admission of guilt and his willingness to undergo treatment when he sentenced him to six years and seven months’ jail.

Given time already served and his eligibility for parole, the man will be freed from prison in June 2019.