'Profound family tragedy': Man jailed for abusing three family members

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to family and sexual violence.

A young man has been jailed for sexually or indecently abusing his sister and cousin as well as illegally accessing another sister’s data, starting from when he was still a child himself.

“There are people in this courtroom today, and people who have given victim impact statements, who were utterly destroyed by what you did to this family,” Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson told the man, who is aged in his 20s but legally cannot be named.

“This is a profound family tragedy.

“Damaged human beings damage other human beings and that has to stop. That has to stop with every generation so the sins of the past are not taken into the future.”

The man was convicted and sentenced to six-and-a-half years’ jail with a non-parole period of three years and three months by the ACT Supreme Court on Friday (26 July).

He abused his sister and male cousin between 2014 and 2021 when his victims were both children.

“I had no idea how to stop it and I was scared it might happen to others in my family,” this sister said.

She said he would give her cannabis and encourage her to smoke it, which resulted in her becoming a heavy smoker from the age of 11.

The cousin said he endured “trauma as a child” and wanted “nothing more than to be a normal” person.

The man also offended against another sister between 2018 and 2022 by accessing her restricted data without authorisation.

This sister said she had been “violated” and described what he had done to her as a “betrayal”.

“I will always blame myself, no matter who says different,” the man’s mother said.

“I should have made sure that he got the help he desperately needed.”

Justice Loukas-Karlsson said the court recognised the serious and long-lasting effects of the offences on the victims.

“No child and no parent should have to go through what they have been through in this case,” she said.

She said the man suffered a traumatic childhood himself, had shown remorse and no longer had contact with his mother or most of his siblings.

She also said his non-parole period was 50 per cent of his total sentence as he clearly needed a great deal of rehabilitation and supervision.

The man pleaded guilty to five acts of indecency-related charges and two counts each of incest with a person under 16 and making pornographic material available to a young person.

He also pleaded guilty to single counts of sexual intercourse with a person under 16, using a child for the production of child exploitation material, attempted sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and supplying cannabis to a child.

As the man’s sentence was backdated to account for time served, he is eligible to be released on parole from October 2025.

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 on 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.