A 42-year-old man was found guilty Monday of incest involving his teenage daughter.
In reaching his decision, Prince George provincial court judge Dan Weatherly said the verdict came down to the credibility of witnesses and on that aspect, he rejected much of what the man had to say when he took the stand in his defence during a trial on the matter.
In contrast, he found that other than for some minor inconsistencies, the girl's testimony was credible.
He also found that many of her allegations were supported by testimony from other witnesses, particularly social workers and her school counsellor.
Recounting evidence heard at the trial, Weatherly said the girl had been living alone with her father in a home in the Prince George area after he had split up with her mother.
He began to demand sex with her when she was in Grade 8, the court had heard.
Early in her Grade 9 year, her behaviour became concerning enough to draw attention from her school counsellor.
By then, she had become withdrawn and had stopped taking care of herself, showing up to school unwashed and in dirty clothing. Evidence that she had been cutting herself was also found.
When social workers were called in to help, the girl, then 15 years old, told them her father had been forcing sex on her.
Part of Weatherly's sentencing centred on conflicting testimony over the state of the home.
Social workers found a lack of food in the fridge and conditions to be messy and filthy.
The man, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban against information that could identify the victim, consistently denied the allegations.
Weatherly accepted the social workers' testimony over the man's, which he found "fraught with problems." In part, he found the man would sometimes answer questions with questions of his own, which in his view, was an attempt to avoid giving answers and buy time.
Although bad living conditions are not proof of the allegations, Weatherly said he accepted Crown counsel's assertion that they speak to bad character and the nature and dynamic of the relationship.
The man will be sentenced at a later date.
