Community service for incest man

Photo / Herald on Sunday

A man found guilty of having a ten-year sexual relationship with his daughter has received 300 hours of community service.

The man's adult daughter was also charged with incest but was found not guilty.

The pair, who have name suppression, met after the woman went looking for her biological father in Britain.

When she finally met the man, in her late twenties, they began a consensual sexual relationship which spanned 10 years.

For the woman to be acquitted, jurors must not have been satisfied that she had sex with the man knowing that he was her father.

During the trial the court heard that the man told her he doubted he was her father when they first met.

The man's lawyer, Louise Brown told the court today that her client was "a rock" for the family and had acted as a stepfather to the woman's children from a previous marriage.

She said while the man maintained his innocence, he was remorseful about the pain he had put his family through.

"We have a man who has no previous convictions and he is a loving and supporting partner [to his daughter]," Ms Brown said.

Crown prosecutor Scott McColgan said the man had known he was having sex with his daughter for ten years.

"It was not a once off mistake," Mr McColgan said.

He said the man knew that having sex with his daughter was against the law but had continued the relationship.

In his sentencing, Judge D. Wilson acknowledged the unusual nature of the case, given that the age difference in father and daughter was not great.

He said the only people who could have been harmed by the incestuous relationship would have been the children of his daughter but Judge Wilson said they had sat through the trial and were here supporting the man today.

"You are the main supporter of the family and were you to be removed, those ripples of damage would spread out and would affect not only you but [your daughter] and the children associated with the household," Judge Wilson said.

"The children raised in your household have written letters and spoke of your part in their lives," he said.

Judge Wilson said the length of community service had to reflect the length of time for which the man had broken the law.