Father on trial accused of sexually abusing intellectually disabled daughter

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged child abuse.

Police arrived to speak to a teenager who alleged she had been sexually abused by her father after she confided in a teacher at her school, jurors heard at the start of a trial.

The father’s trial began in the Bega Supreme Court on Monday (30 September), in which jurors heard he was accused of touching his 15-year-old daughter, who lives with an intellectual disability, on her breasts and genitals in her bedroom.

In September 2022, the girl was speaking to her teacher at her school in the NSW South Coast when she said, “He touched me”, prosecutor Nerissa Keay alleged during her opening submissions.

The girl also allegedly said, “It’s my body and I say no”.

“Yes that’s right, good on you remembering that from our lessons,” the teacher said.

The teacher asked if her mother knew about the allegations and the girl said she had told her recently.

“I’m worried about Mum and finding a place to live,” the girl said when asked if she was OK.

Police spoke to her at her school four days later.

Ms Keay said the girl was asked to describe the last alleged incident, which is what her father had been charged over, but she also claimed it had been happening for a “while”.

The prosecutor said the man “denied that he had sexually touched his daughter”.

The man’s defence barrister, Jonathan Cooper, spoke about a day in September 2022 when his client and his partner, being the girl’s mother, were driving to Wollongong.

“It is in that car, in that moment, that my client heard about this for the first time,” he said.

Mr Cooper said when police called his client, “he didn’t get dressed, didn’t get a lawyer”, and went to a police station to speak to them.

“He was upfront and he was honest with police, saying what was going on at home and he didn’t do it,” he said.

The barrister said the issue in the trial was that “the allegations in this case come from one person, [the girl]”.

He said the girl’s credibility, reliability and her memory would be issues in the trial.

“My client asks you to listen carefully to her evidence,” Mr Cooper said.

Jurors were told they would hear from the girl, her mother and the teacher during the trial.

The man, who is now aged 39 but who legally cannot be named, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of intentionally sexually touching a child aged between 10 and 16.

The trial continues before Justice Dina Yehia SC.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.