Man jailed for sodomising daughter, 2

A Christchurch man who repeatedly sodomised his two-year-old daughter while she struggled and screamed was today jailed for 10 years.

Judge Phillip Moran in the Christchurch District Court ordered that the man serve a minimum non-parole term of six-and-a-half years.

His name cannot be published because it would identify the victim.

Crown prosecutor Dr Heather McKenzie said: "It is difficult to imagine worse offending on such a young child."

The offending came to light after his daughter complained of having a sore bottom and said the father had done it to her.

After being confronted by police he confessed he had abused his daughter on five occasions.

Judge Moran said the man's other child had been left lost and bewildered by the arrest and his wife had felt numb for months.

She was only beginning to get to grips with the reality of what had happened.

The judge said he took into account the defencelessness of the girl, the harm to her and the family, and magnitude of the breach of trust.

"That's mind-boggling."

Judge Moran said the man had offended at home when the wife was out working, and after he had been viewing internet child abuse pornography.

He had sodomised the girl even though she was distressed and in pain, "crying her frigging head off and screaming" as he later told police.

"If anybody from today ever supposes that possession of child pornography won't lead to actual offending, you are a good example (that it will)," said the judge.

Defence counsel Paul Norcross said regardless of the sentence imposed today, the real hard work for the accused would be when he was released from prison and tried to achieve some degree of normality.

- NZPA