Judge jails father for 13 years for incest against daughter

A 65-year-old father found guilty of incest against his daughter will spend the next 13 years behind bars.

“Incest is considered a detestable offence which desecrates the sanctity of the home and must attract a custodial sentence as a general deterrent to others,” said Justice Randall Worrell moments before he made the ruling on Thursday in Supreme Court No. 2. 

The man was found guilty of committing the act against his daughter in 2011. She was 11 years old at the time.

The judge told the convicted man that under the law, his daughter’s age at the time of the act made him liable to a sentence of life imprisonment and gave a starting sentence of 18 years.

Justice Worrell noted that while the man had only been charged with one count of incest, his daughter had testified that the act was committed on three separate occasions.

Outlining that as an aggravating feature of the offence, Justice Worrell added to that the victim’s age and the age disparity between her and her father, who was 53 at the time of the offence.

The judge said the court had taken into consideration that no violence was used against the child.

The convicted molester, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, had no criminal record.

Justice Worrell also took into consideration the eight-year delay in the matter being heard in the High Court and made a downward adjustment and time was also deducted for the 267 days the convicted man had spent on remand.

Delivering a sentence of 4 843 days’ imprisonment, the judge also ordered that the father undergo psychological testing and counselling while in prison. ]]>