By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Court Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A FATHER facing incest charges in the Supreme Court on Friday denied sleeping with his teenage daughter, claiming she only made the allegations after a pregnancy test was found in her room.
The accused also claimed that in a previous WhatsApp conversation before his daughter lodged official sexual assault charges, she had threatened to say he slept with if her mother took her to a doctor in relation to the pregnancy test.
The 47-year-old man, whose name is being withheld to protect his accuser’s identity, is represented by Murrio Ducille, KC. The man testified before Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns for the continuation of his incest trial.
It is alleged by the prosecution that the defendant sexually abused his now adult daughter twice in 2015 and 2016 when she was 15 and 16 years old. Charges were officially filed against him in 2017. In a previous trial appearance, an audio recording was played in court of the defendant begging the complainant not to tell anyone of the alleged incidents because he was afraid he would go to jail. During his testimony when asked by Mr Ducille what his relationship was like with his daughter in 2016-2017, the accused said that he only had contact with her on a twice weekly basis and occasionally on the weekend.
Responding to the question of why his daughter would make such allegations against him, the accused said he had told her mother “to go find her baby daddy” in her presence when she was growing up.
While he went on to say that he regrets saying these things, he said she would continue to question him on his paternity and sometimes say that she isn’t his child.
The accused claimed that his daughter occasionally made threats against him if he refused to give her money, threatening to say he did inappropriate things to her.
In reference to a supposed 2017 WhatsApp conversation between the two, the defendant said that he confronted the complainant after her mother told him she found a pregnancy test under her bed.
He then said that his daughter denied ownership of the pregnancy test saying that it was her aunt’s. It was when he told his daughter that her mother was taking her to a doctor to see if she was sexually active that she threatened to say he slept with her if such action were taken.
By the end of this conversation, the defendant said she told him she was only joking about making such an allegation.
When the defence’s counsel moved to have the conversation on the defendant’s phone officially shown in court, prosecutor Basil Cumberbatch once again objected to the move.
The trial continues today at 10.30am.
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