Australian dad raped, pimped out young daughter

Perth man, a member of 'Evil 8' paedophile ring, sent to jail for 22 years

SYDNEY • An Australian who repeatedly raped his daughter and arranged for strangers to abuse her while he watched has been jailed for 22 years. He told police "it was fun while it lasted".

The father, 42, who cannot be named to protect the girl's identity, admitted 61 offences between 2013 and last year when his daughter was aged between 11 and 13.

The West Australian District Court in Perth heard the man also arranged for six other men, whom he met online, to have sex with her while he watched or participated.

On one occasion when the father and another man were filming, the girl was shown shackled to a bed, wearing a dog collar, the West Australian newspaper reported.

In the footage, she could be seen struggling against the restraints and pleading with him to stop.

The paedophile ring, dubbed the "Evil 8", was smashed last year when detectives arrested the men, aged between 35 and 47, after a tip-off from the public.

The court heard that after his arrest, the father told police he regretted what he had done.

"I really want to get out of this scene," he said. "I'm going to be honest, it was fun while it lasted, but it went way over the line."

During the proceedings yesterday, he kept his head down, covering his face with his hands, the Australian Associated Press reported.

More than 200 charges were filed against him initially, but 150 of them were combined into one and some others were dropped.

In jailing him yesterday, District Court Judge Philip Eaton said the abuse would likely have "lasting and irreparable consequences" for the girl, who lived with her father after her parents separated.

"You completely disregarded her welfare," he said. "I have no doubt that you derived perverse sexual enjoyment while doing so."

One of the other men involved, former church pastor David Volmer, a father of two, was sentenced to 10 years' jail last November.

The court hearing that case heard he had sex with the girl after her father answered an ad he placed online for sexual massages.

Another man, Benjamin Simon Clarke, was sentenced to three years' jail earlier this month for indecently abusing and taking photos of the victim in the nude. The pictures were snapped at an abandoned mine site and at the girl's home. Clarke, a photographer, abused the girl while she was naked on a mattress and left A$300 (S$300) on the kitchen counter after that. He returned later to give the father a flash drive containing photos he took of the girl who was then 13, according to the ABC.

A fourth man was sentenced to more than two years behind bars in May for using an online chat forum to engage in sexual conversations and exchange nude photographs with children. He had been in communication with the girl's father, but was never charged with offences related to the girl, according to PerthNow news website.

The four remaining men in the paedophile ring are still before the courts.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 24, 2016, with the headline Australian dad raped, pimped out young daughter. Subscribe