An 80-year-old Queensland man will spend 27 years, should he live that long, in prison for the brutal rape and torment of his daughters, who he abused over the course of at least 20 years.

According to the Townsville Bulletin, the man, whose identity has been withheld to protect the victims, told police that he carried out the abuse on his daughters because he had a “vision” that one of the children would end up as a drug-addicted prostitute. The elderly man said he thought the shock of the abuse would make her change her mind when she got older.

According to court testimony at the Townsville District Court in Queensland, Australia, last week, the children’s mother knew of the abuse and did nothing to stop it, even when it became increasingly worse with the man forcing the family dog onto one of the victims.

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When one of the girls became pregnant by her father, the mother allegedly gave her $300 for an abortion. Further, the mother is accused of staying silent while her husband allowed his co-workers to sexually assault the girls during a “gang rape.”

“My father is a person I have feared all my life. He has had a lifelong traumatic impact on me,” one of the victims, now an adult, said as she read a victim impact statement aloud in court.

“I was just a little girl and could not understand what I had done wrong to warrant such vile treatment, punishment and threats by my father.”

The victim described how the fear of her father lasted into adulthood. After she married, the man would go to her home while her husband was at work and sexually assault her. The victim said her father threatened to kill her unborn child if she told her husband.

Further, the victim explained to the court how her “world fell apart” the day her mother walked in the room and saw the man sexually assaulting her, but did nothing to help her, according to DailyMail.

The man’s defense attorney, Tom Polley, reportedly said his client showed remorse and regret for his actions, and in turn, pleaded guilty to 87 charges.

When the presiding judge read out the man’s sentence, one of his daughters let out a cry of relief.

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[Feature Photo: Pixabay]