A 76-YEAR-OLD man jailed for almost eight years for having sex with his granddaughter has been refused leave to appeal his sentence.
The Supreme Court of Victoria Court of Appeal was told the man had sought leave to appeal more than three months out of time on two charges of sexual penetration of the woman who was aged in her late teens when the offending took place.
The court was told the man engaged in multiple sexual acts including one occasion at the woman’s house when he said to her “do you want to go have sex cos I’m horny” and she responded “whatever”.
The woman then gave the man a Viagra tablet and they had sex in a bedroom, while the man again performed a sex act on the victim while the pair were staying at a motel together.
The court was told the man would send the woman “dirty talk” messages and he bought her a new mobile phone and a car valued at $13,000.
The woman disclosed the offending to her mother and grandmother and subsequently told police that she had been having sexual intercourse with the accused for the past five to six months, that she was pregnant and that she believed the applicant was the father. DNA analysis conducted following the subsequent termination of the pregnancy confirmed that to be the case.
The man was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail with a non-parole period of five years and seven months.
The court heard there were complex relationship dynamics between the woman and the applicant and the man had sexually exploited the victim in circumstances where he had already sexually offended against her when she was 12 to 13 years old.
Court of Appeal Judge Rowena Orr said the sentencing judge had noted the man’s advanced age and ill health including that he had suffered a heart attack in the Mildura police cells the day after the initial plea hearing in 2023.
“The age and health of an offender were relevant to the exercise of the sentencing discretion,” Justice Orr said.
“While not determinative of the quantum of any sentence, advanced age and ill health were weighty considerations when an offender was likely to spend the whole, or a very substantial portion, of the remainder of their life in prison.”
Justice Orr said the man will be close to 84 years old when his head sentence expires.
“Given his advanced age and range of physical ailments, it may be accepted that it is a real possibility that he will spend the remainder of his life in custody,” she said.
“This is, at least in part, a consequence of the applicant offending at the age of 74 years old, when his health was already compromised and he had undergone various surgeries in response to his impaired cardiovascular function.
“In any event, advanced age and ill health do not justify the imposition of an unacceptably inappropriate sentence.”
Justice Orr refused the man’s application for an extension of time within which to seek leave to appeal.
