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 $1.3million in damages after molesting his stepdaughter for three years. 

The decorated Royal Australian Air Force squadron leader was arrested in Sydney in November 2015 after abusing the girl, *AJ, while she was aged between 12 and 15.

A court heard how he ordered her to perform sex acts over Skype calls while he was on duty overseas - and when at home, he violated her at night as she lay next to her sleeping mother.

'My dad, the man I had complete trust in, took all of my firsts, he robbed me of my childhood,' his stepdaughter told the court in her victim impact statement.

'I hate what has happened to me. It is something I wouldn't wish upon 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 he pled guilty to 245 charges in August 2018.

He was given a minimum non-parole jail term of 11 years and six months and could walk free from prison in early 2030.

Now his family has successfully sued him for the sickening attacks, with a judge ordering him to pay his victim $952,336.05, and a further $407, 214.87 to his ex-wife. 

District Court Judge William Fitzsimmons heard the serviceman - who did several tours of duty in the Middle East - helped raise the young girl from the age of four when he began dating her mother, *TM.

The couple married the following year in May 2006 and welcomed a child together 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 pursuits, which included netball, touch football and cross country. 

However, he switched from parent to predator in 2013 when he began molesting AJ through her clothing after she turned 12 and started high school. 

From July to December that year, KM was deployed to Afghanistan but his offending still continued.

The twisted molester even ordered his stepdaughter to perform sex acts for him over Skype calls while he was serving overseas.

Once he returned home, KM continued the abuse with demands for oral sex in the family's living room.

He also surreptitiously abused her when she slept next to both him and her mother in her parents' bed at night as she was afraid of the dark.

The vile abuse escalated further when she turned 14 and KM began raping her once a week if her mother left the house for a night or when they were on family holidays. 

In the 18 months leading up to early 2015, AJ estimated she had been raped between 30 to 50 times.

His evil abuse finally came to light during a family argument in October 2015 when KM lashed out after learning AJ had been engaging in sexual activity with a boy.

He grounded her for the remainder of the year and called her 'a s***'.

Outraged by the slur, AJ responded: 'It's nothing more than you've ever done to me'.

According to court documents, AJ's mother looked shocked as KM began pacing around the room, before admitting his crimes and apologising for what he had done.

The abuse was reported to police the following month and KM was arrested a short time later. 

In an affidavit, the victim said she has experienced feelings of 'shame, embarrassment and disgust', low-self esteem and suicidal-ideation since the abuse.

She said she was too young to understand what was happening to her was wrong and that she thought the behaviour was just 'something males do to females'.  

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 black outs.

'I am a young girl, who struggles with trust, and am extremely insecure,' she said in her victim impact statement. 

'The abuse has affected me in every way, shape and form 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 overall outlook on life.

'No-one I know can relate to what I have gone through. As a teenager, all you want to do is fit in. I will never know my true destiny.

'My path was changed forever by my Dad, one of the most trusted people in my life, now the monster in my mind…'

AJ and TM each filed civil lawsuits against KM, after he pleaded guilty to 24 offences relating to the sex attacks in total. 

In TM's hearing, it was revealed that around the time of the abuse, the mother-of-four was supporting - then grieving - her terminally ill mother, who died in early 2015. 

She now continues to experience intense guilt for not protecting her daughter, as well as panic attacks and depression.

Making his ruling earlier this month, Judge Fitzsimmons said the abuse has severely impacted both the women's lives and their relationships with others.

The compensation is comprised of general damages, treatment costs, and past and future economic loss relating to the mental and physical impacts spurred on by KM's actions.

*Names changed for legal reasons 

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