Royal Australian Air Force hero’s years of evil sex abuse exposed – as he’s ordered to pay $1.3m for raping and molesting his own stepdaughter as she lay beside her sleeping mother
EXCLUSIVE
A former military bomb disposal expert has been ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in damages after abusing his stepdaughter for three years.
The decorated Royal Australian Air Force squadron commander was arrested in Sydney in November 2015 after allegedly abusing a girl named *AJ when she was between 12 and 15 years old.
The court heard how he ordered her to perform sex acts on Skype while he was working abroad, and raped her at night when she was at home, next to her sleeping mother.
“My father, the man I trusted completely, took away all my first times, he took away my childhood,” his stepdaughter told the court in her victim impact statement.
“I hate what happened to me. It’s something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”
The long-serving veteran, known only as KM for legal reasons, was sentenced to 17 years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to 245 charges in August 2018.
He was given a minimum prison sentence of 11 years and six months, with no possibility of parole, and could be released in early 2030.
His family successfully sued him for the vile attacks, with a judge ordering him to pay $952,336.05 to his victim and another $407,214.87 to his ex-wife.
A former soldier (pictured) has pleaded guilty to 24 charges after sexually abusing his stepdaughter
District Judge William Fitzsimmons heard that the soldier, who has served several tours in the Middle East, helped raise the girl from the age of four before becoming involved with her mother, *TM.
The couple married the following year, in May 2006, and their child was born a month after the wedding.
According to court documents, KM played an “active role” in the upbringing of AJ and her sibling, supporting the talented young athlete in her sporting activities, including netball, touch football and cross-country running.
However, in 2013, he turned from parent to predator when he began abusing AJ through her clothing when she turned 12 and started high school.
From July to December of that year, KM was deployed to Afghanistan, but his crimes continued.
The deranged molester even ordered his stepdaughter to perform sex acts for him via Skype calls while he was serving overseas.
Once home, KM continued the abuse, demanding oral sex in the family’s living room.
He also secretly abused her when she slept next to him and her mother in her parents’ bed at night because she was afraid of the dark.
The horrific abuse escalated when she turned 14 and KM began raping her once a week when her mother was away for the night or when they were on family vacation.
AJ estimates she was raped between 30 and 50 times in the 18 months leading up to early 2015.
His brutal abuse eventually came to light during a family feud in October 2015, when KM reacted violently after discovering that AJ had engaged in sexual acts with a boy.
He grounded her for the rest of the year and called her ‘ash***’.
Furious at the insult, AJ replied, “It’s nothing more than anything you ever did to me.”
According to court documents, AJ’s mother appeared shocked as KM began pacing the room before confessing to his crimes and apologizing for what he had done.
He has been ordered to pay more than $1.3 million to his victim and her mother
The assault was reported to police the following month and KM was arrested a short time later.
In an affidavit, the victim said she had suffered from feelings of “shame, embarrassment and disgust,” low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts since the abuse.
She said she was too young to understand that what was happening to her was wrong and that she thought the behavior was “just something men do to women.”
She now struggles with a lack of trust in people and various physical and mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, seizures, PTSD and dissociative memory blackouts.
“I am a young girl who struggles with trust and I am extremely insecure,” she said in her victim impact statement.
‘The abuse affected me in every way possible.
‘I can never escape it. It has affected my home life, my social life, my work life, my well-being, mental and physical health and my general outlook on life.
‘No one I know can relate to what I’ve been through. As a teenager, all you want is to fit in. I’ll never know my true destiny.
‘My path was changed forever by my father, one of the most trusted people in my life, now the monster in my mind…’
AJ and TM each filed a civil lawsuit against KM after he pleaded guilty to a total of 24 felonies related to the sexual assaults.
During TM’s hearing, it was revealed that the mother of four was supporting and grieving for her terminally ill mother around the time of the abuse, who died in early 2015.
She still suffers from immense guilt for not protecting her daughter, and also suffers from panic attacks and depression.
Judge Fitzsimmons, making his ruling earlier this month, said the abuse had had a serious impact on both the women’s lives and their relationships with others.
The damages consist of general damages, treatment costs and past and future economic loss related to the mental and physical consequences caused by KM’s actions.
*Names have been changed for legal reasons
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