GIFU (TR) – A court here earlier this month handed a man a nine-year prison term for sexually assaulting his daughter repeatedly, even impregnating her, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Oct. 1).
On October 1 at the Gifu District Court, presiding judge Akira Sugawara described the crimes of the man, whose name and age were not revealed, as “extremely malicious.”
According to the ruling, the man sexually assaulted the girl at their home and inside his car in July, 2017 and February, 2019. He also used his mobile telephone to film another attack in July, 2016, the footage of which was construed as child pornography.
Prosecutors had sought a 12-year prison term for the man, who was accused of coerced intercourse of a minor by a parent or guardian.
“The amount of mental and physical damage suffered by her is immeasurable,” Sugawara said in handing down the ruling.
“I will cut off financial support”
The man began sexually assaulting his daughter when she was in middle school at the latest. After she began turning him away, he threatened to disclose the sexual contact to other family members. “I will cut off financial support,” he also threatened.
When she was a second-year high school student, he impregnated her. After she had an abortion, his sexual abuse of her continued, according to the ruling.
“I would be lonely if I lost her,” the man said during the trial when asked why he repeatedly sexually assaulted his daughter. “It was self-centered but I wanted her for myself.”
Sugawara spoke directly to the man after handing down the ruling. “Should you even return to society upon the completion of the term, the pain she has endured will not be healed,” the judge said. “You should think about that.”
