A former Victorian police officer who sexually abused his stepdaughter and told a "web of lies" after being confronted has been jailed.
Robert Scott on Monday faced the Victorian County Court, where he was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent assault against Kim Elzaibak in the 1970s.
Ms Elzaibak was in between three and nine years old when the repeated abuse took place, while Scott, now 89, was a serving police officer in a relationship with the girl's mother.
"She was but a child," Judge Bill Stuart said.
"You offended against her in her own home - a place she where was entitled to be, and to feel, safe.
"You groomed her, over years, for your own sexual satisfaction. You were responsible, as an adult, to protect her. (But) you did the opposite."
When confronted, Scott originally said his step-daughter had made sexual advances upon him.
"That of course, was a complete lie," Judge Stuart told the court.
The 89-year-old later made references to buying a sexual education book and touching Ms Elzaibak on certain parts of her body to demonstrate how children were born.
But he pleaded guilty earlier this year.
"And so after decades of denial, obfuscations and excuses, you have finally come to a realisation as to the gravity of your offending against your stepdaughter," Judge Stuart said.
Ms Elzaibak, who previously obtained a court order allowing her to be named as a victim of a sexual crime, said Scott had been her hero when she was growing up.
He was a father figure for her, as well as a police officer in country Victoria, who appeared dedicated to protecting the community.
But dark deceit lay beneath his facade.
"The first time you interfered with my body was the day my childhood was wrongfully stolen from me," Ms Elzaibak said in a statement read out to court.
"You've had the pleasure of living most of your life carefree well into your senior years, a luxury many of us could only wish for.
"Unfortunately, I will never have those same luxuries because the past 49 out of my 52 years have been consumed with managing the long-term effects of the abuse you inflicted upon me, along with this investigation and judicial process."
Scott, who served with Victoria Police from 1965 to 1975, was extradited from his home in Cumbria in the UK to face court in Victoria last year.
"Oh good god ... my life is finished then, sir," he said as Judge Stuart explained the maximum penalties for his offences.
Scott suffered from alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences fighting as a soldier overseas, the court was told.
These factors gave some small explanation, but did not excuse his abuse of Ms Elzaibak, Judge Stuart said,
Scott, now a registered sex offender for life, has already served 359 days in pre-sentence detention.
This means he could be released in two months after the judge ordered that 10 months of his sentence be suspended for two years.
