Kiwi father forced daughter to pray after sexually abusing her

WELLINGTON - A NZ father, who made his young daughter pray for forgiveness with him after he had sexually abused her, has been jailed.

Christchurch Court News website reported that the man was a church official at the time, prompting Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen Erber to highlight the hypocrisy of his conduct - working with Christian youth while abusing his daughter from the age of five to 11 years.

The girl, now aged 20, read her victim impact statement at her father’s sentencing, sometimes in tears but dismissing him strongly at the end.

“He wrecked my life and destroyed my family. I have no love for him. I don’t care about him any more,” the New Zealand Herald quoted her as saying.

The 45-year-old man’s name must remain suppressed - a request from his family - as he begins a three year four month jail term on five indecency charges against the girl.

His daughter said she lost all respect for the church, God and the Bible as a result of her father’s offending.

“He was supposed to be Christian but look at all the evil he was doing,” she said.

She said he looked like a monster to her.

He would make her pray with him for forgiveness after the sexual abuse, but she knew she had not done anything wrong.

“I wanted Dad to say what he had done but he just lied and never took responsibility,” she said.

She told the court how her life had deteriorated. She became withdrawn and eventually resorted to drugs and alcohol, missing school, causing pain for her mother.

The mother, who had tried to take her own life after the abuse was discovered, told the court she felt like a failure as a mother.

She said the man was praying all the time and asking God for forgiveness.

“In the last three years he has made our lives hell, admitting what he did and then minimising it,” the mother said.

Defence counsel Steve Hembrow said the man accepted he was the cause of the tragedy for the whole family. (ANI)