Sheffield dad sexually abused daughters playing "hunt the soap" in the bath

The 66-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, touched the girls' private parts while bathing them, when they were aged four and eight, in the early 1990s, prosecutor Andrew Stranex told Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

He later asked them if they touched themselves, and when they told him "no," he said: "You should, it feels nice."

When the younger girl was aged between seven and eight, her father touched her private parts again in the bath, and put his hand inside her pants when they watched television together on the sofa.

When she was nine, he went to her bedroom and touched her sexually on the pretext of “giving her a goodnight massage.”

After he abused her again, when she was eleven, she “resolved herself not to be alone with him again,” said Mr Stranex.

The two sisters discussed their abuse in 2014 and told their mother. The defendant denied everything, but admitted his guilt to his mother.

He was arrested and interviewed by police, in April 2018, when he claimed he was unable to remember anything.

James Baird, mitigating, said: "He admitted this matter when he was challenged in 2014 and no complaint was made then.

"He had these matters hanging over him for some considerable time. He knows he is facing a substantial sentence. He does submit now, through me, his remorse towards all members of his family.”

The defendant pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on the day of his trial, after initially denying them.

Judge Rachael Harrison told him: "You carried out sexual acts on two of your daughters.

"You relied on them to keep quiet. You lied to the police and continued to lie. I cannot accept that you have any genuine remorse. If you had you would have spared your daughters the long wait."

She said his victims were "profoundly affected" by what he did.

Judge Harrison sentenced him to 12 years in prison, and he will serve at least five years in custody before the parole board can consider him for release.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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