An 89-year-old man has been jailed for eight years for the persistent sexual abuse of his daughter in the 1970s.
The man, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to one count of persistent sexual abuse of a young person.
He was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Wednesday.
Justice Tamara Jago said the abuse happened between October 1971 and December 1976, when the girl was aged between 10 and 16. The man was aged between 34 and 39.
Justice Jago said it began at the family home in Launceston while the girl’s mother was in hospital giving birth.
The court heard it continued after the family moved to Waverley, often at night in the girl’s bedroom.
When the girl threatened to tell her mother, the man laughed and told her she would not be believed, the judge said. She stayed silent for decades.
The court heard police interviewed the man in January 2025.
Justice Jago said he made some admissions but “largely downplayed the extent of the abuse”.
He first pleaded not guilty, then changed his plea on the day his daughter’s sister was due to give evidence, the court heard.
Justice Jago said the crime “very obviously involves a significant breach of trust” and that his moral culpability was “very high”.
She said his age was relevant but had to be “balanced against the objective seriousness of your crimes”.
Justice Jago acknowledged the man’s age meant he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“It may well be, given your age, that you face the prospect of spending much, if not all, of the remainder of your life in prison,” she said.
“I bear that in mind in formulating the appropriate sentence, but given the gravity of this offending, that alone cannot be a reason to escape just punishment.”
The man will not be eligible for parole until he has served half his eight-year sentence. It began on August 14.
