Estranged father charged with incest after pregnant daughter accuses him of rape
A Melbourne woman, who tracked down her estranged father after 20 years apart, said she was raped when she invited him to stay at her home.
The man was sentenced to prison on incest charges, however, he was not charged with rape. He told police his daughter had instigated a sexual encounter, over which he pleaded guilty.
The woman, who cannot be named, searched for her father who was living in Queensland, and invited him to visit her and her family at their home.
She said she knew the man had a history of violence and had been jailed for assaults, but was excited to finally meet him.
The 38-year-old man, his partner and their son arrived at the woman's home in October 2014, and stayed in the spare room.
"This was the first time meeting my father. He was happy to see me too ... I was just so excited and happy to finally meet my real dad," she told the Victorian Court of Appeal.
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Justices Simon Whelan and Anthony Cavanough said the woman had been home alone with her father later in October 2014, when he asked her to ‘give Dad a hug’.
The woman hugged her father, then he asked for another hug, but this time began kissing the woman on the neck and had his hands around her waist, the court heard.
The woman pushed the man away, sat down and sarcastically told him: ‘If you're gonna be like that you may as well take me to your bedroom’.
The court was told the man then demanded his daughter follow him into the bedroom before he pushed her on to the bed and raped her, telling her, ‘I love you forever’.
The woman said she didn’t say anything and felt she had to co-operate, worried she would get hurt if she tried to stop him and he became angry.
"I knew he had a very violent past and had been in jail for physical assaults," she said.
"I felt gross that it was my Dad. I just wanted to get in the shower as I felt so dirty."
The woman told her husband what had happened and he contacted police.
Following his arrest, the man told police his daughter made him have sex with her.
“I tried to say no. I didn't want to lose her," he said.
The court heard the man was 14 when he began a relationship with his daughter's mother. He said the 18-year-old woman claimed she only wanted to get pregnant to claim the single mother's pension, and walked out of the relationship 26 days after giving birth to the girl.
The father admitted having sex with his daughter but denied raping her. The man pleaded guilty to one count of incest and was jailed for four years with a minimum of two years but appealed his sentence.
The appeal judges agreed to reduce his jail term to three years with a minimum of 18 months after reading a psychological report about his intellectually disability and tragic upbringing.
The judges sentenced the man on the basis he had pleaded guilty to incest and had not been charged with rape.
