A man from NSW's Far South Coast will spend up to 15 years in prison after he repeatedly sexually abused his daughter and stepdaughter at homes in the region, and in the Illawarra, for almost a decade.
The man in his 30s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced by Judge James Bennett at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court to a maximum 15 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 11 years.
The man, who has been in custody since his arrest in 2021, pleaded guilty earlier this year in a local court to six offences committed over an almost 10-year period, including two counts of sexual intercourse with a child aged under 10 and intentionally carrying out a sexual act with a child aged under 10.
He was arrested after his daughter disclosed the abuse to a family member in the Wollongong area.
In a later interview with police he claimed she had made up stories of the abuse because she was jealous he had rekindled a relationship with her mother.
Court documents revealed the man, who has children with multiple women, blamed his offending on drug and alcohol abuse, which included injecting methamphetamines twice a day.
He also denied having any sexual attraction to children, which Judge Bennett deemed was "improbable".
"There can be no finding other than he has an interest in pre-pubescent children," Judge Bennett told the court during sentencing.
"It is not known what pornography he viewed each day to reach hyper arousal, but to seek his sexual release at the expense of these children as he admits, must lead to the view that he has aberrant sexual appetites which inform the need to provide protection from the offender.
"How his aberrant interests might be addressed cannot be assessed without an accurate and truthful acknowledgement of his motivation which is absent in this case."
The court heard the man's offending began in 2013, just weeks after he moved in with the mother of the two girls.
While the man's stepdaughter disclosed his abuse to her mother at the time, she was not believed, the court heard.
The court also heard while the man had no previous sexual offences on his criminal record, he had past convictions for violent assaults and drug possession, and had spent time in prison.
An assessment by a Corrective Services psychologist after his arrest found the man showed hostility towards women and admitted to having deviant interests, the court heard.
A forensic psychiatrist who assessed the man in October found that while he had a stable childhood, he likely had an addiction to pornography and would also suffer from flash blacks of someone he saw killed during his time in prison.
"There is no indication that he had a troubled home life as he grew through his formative years," Judge Bennett said during sentencing.
"Apart from misbehaviour at school he represented a relatively good childhood and stability at home."
The man will be eligible for parole in 2032.
