A man who had a baby with his 11-year-old stepdaughter has walked free after the judge ruled that the young girl was the sexual aggressor.
The 58-year-old father has been given an 18-month suspended jail sentence for having sex and conceiving a daughter with his stepdaughter, who would later become his wife.
The incident occurred in the school holidays of September, 1995 and was a criminal act because the man was 42 years old and the soon-to-be mother was just 11, Brisbane District Court heard.
The man was a convicted sex offender and was facing a seven year jail sentence when he was originally charged by police in 1995, the Courier-Mail reports.
He ran away from police after being jailed for several months and given bail twice.
He eluded police for more than 14 years during which time he returned to Brisbane and married the girl, who had since turned 18.
The couple produced a son in 2005 but separated in 2007. They remain good friends.
Judge David Reid ruled the man, who cannot be identified to protect his victim, should walk free from court because "the facts of this case are unusual and unlikely ever to be repeated".
The daughter born as a result of the offence described her father as an "awesome dad" and said she "is lucky" to have him as a father.
He said there was no evidence the man had "groomed" his stepdaughter for sex and that in fact the girl had been the sexual aggressor.
Prosecutor Rebecca Britnell said the man had been sleeping naked in his bed when the 11-year-old came into his room, took off her clothes and then had sex with her stepfather.
When the girl realised she was pregnant, she fled interstate with her stepfather and remained in hiding until her mother made public appeals for her return to safety.
The girl then contacted her mother, who had a son with the stepfather a year before the incident, and made a statement to police in April 1996. The man was charged and released on bail before he breached it by seeing the girl.
He was jailed for a further three months before he was bailed again and he fled.
The man has been on the run since then, until police learned of his whereabouts in Brisbane on March 8 this year.
The victim, who was in court to support her former husband, breathed a sigh of relief when the verdict was announced.
Front page
RSS Feed