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A man who regularly had sex with his adult transgender stepdaughter over 13 years has been jailed for a decade for offences a judge described as "abhorrent and unacceptable".

The victim was born a boy but underwent gender reassignment surgery as a young adult about the time her mother and the man married, and soon afterwards he began exerting sexual control over her.

The County Court heard on Tuesday that when the offending began, the stepfather was aware of the psychological difficulties the woman faced at that stage of her life, and that he preyed on her vulnerability.

He did so, the court heard, by threatening to financially ruin her mother if the sex was reported, and telling the young woman her family hated her.
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The woman also had concerns her mother's ill health would worsen if the crimes became known.

The man was arrested in July last year after the woman covertly recorded his crimes on her iPad and handed the files to police.

The stepfather had suggested six months earlier that they film the sex so he could watch it at work.

The stepfather pleaded guilty to four counts of incest. He cannot be named so as not to identify the victim.

The sentencing judge, who also cannot be named, said the man had been unrelenting in having sex with his stepdaughter three or four times a week, and that "conduct that it is utterly abhorrent and unacceptable" had to be denounced to deter like-minded others.

Incest cases, the judge said, involved a gross breach of trust and often caused irreparable damage, even in the rare cases where victims were adults.

The court heard the stepfather referred to the woman as his "second wife", told her she should feel lucky "because not many men would want to be with a woman like you", and once took her to a hotel on what he called their "honeymoon".

"The way you exploited her fragility bespoke of psychological manipulation of the highest order," the judge said.

"This was obstinate and manipulative offending for base sexual gratification."

The woman lost count of the number of times the stepfather had sex with her, and told police he ignored her pleas that her body was not ready for sexual activity and that she was still adjusting to life as a woman.

The offending left the woman feeling broken, depressed, anxious and scared, the court was told, and she felt like the man took her identity, freedom, happiness and health.

The woman's brother said in a statement to Fairfax Media it didn't matter how long the man's jail term was, as "he stole 14 years of my sister's life and ruined her identity".

"Her message to everybody is: 'The victims are never to be blamed; the offenders ought to be shamed'," the brother wrote.

"She hopes this will resonate with all women, whether they be female or trans or intersex women. My mother and I are left to help her pick up the pieces.

"As she suffers, we too, suffer with her. Nobody should be subjected to depraved and damaging sexual acts as well as those of violence and humiliation."

The stepfather must serve seven years before he is eligible for parole.
The court heard that when arrested, he claimed to police it was the stepdaughter who wanted to have sex with him, and that she was a "loner and had nobody".

The stepfather is a father of three from a previous relationship, and has grandchildren.

The judge acknowledged the man's mental health issues and physical ailments would make prison time more onerous, as would the uncertainty of facing deportation to his country of birth once out of jail.

He must serve seven years before he is eligible for parole.

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