An Australian court has ordered two young girls to spend weekends with their sex offender father provided he puts a door on their bedroom they can lock. Judge Robert Benjamin, in the Family Court's Hobart branch, ruled that the girls "need some protection from (their father), particularly at night". However, the risk of sexual abuse was "diminished when they are awake and alert".
Judge Benjamin said that the father, who was convicted of downloading child pornography, must have an "adult friend" stay with him when the girls stayed overnight. He added that until the youngest turned 14, the girls must "share the same room so they can have the mutual support of one another".
A Family Court counsellor said that the girls, aged ten and eight, "are at an age and maturity when awake, dressed and together it would be unlikely the father would act inappropriately toward them". "However, at night, when they were asleep or partly asleep and not aware of each other's whereabouts, they would be less secure."
The eldest girl has told counsellors that she was afraid to stay overnight with her father. The case has outraged women's groups, who say it puts the girls at risk to satisfy the father's desire to see them.
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