A father has been jailed for four years for sexually abusing his two adolescent daughters.

The abuse went on for six years, between 2009 and 2015.

It only came to the surface in 2016, when the younger daughter finally opened up to her sister. The sister then admitted she had gone through the same ordeal but had kept silent to keep the family united.

The man, whose name cannot be published by court order, pleaded that his daughters had forgiven him so he should not go to jail.

But in confirming the prison sentence on appeal, Madam Justice Edwina Grima rubbished his argument. The fact he had been forgiven did not automatically mean that the court had to hand down a lenient sentence, she said.

The man had to pay for his actions.

The court noted that the crimes for which he was convicted carried an effective jail term of between three and six years so his sentence was closer to the minimum.

It heard how the father of two would force his children, at the time aged just 12 and 13, to give him sexual pleasure.

For a long time, they had to submit themselves to the evil will of their father and kept silent to keep the family stable

The younger child testified that it all started when she asked her mother for permission to go on a school trip to Gozo. She told her no, so she went to her father to see if she could get the go-ahead from him instead.

The father told her she could only go if she would perform a sexual act on him. She obliged and the same thing would happen regularly, at least once a month, she told the court.

He did the same when she sought permission to attend the parish youth centre.

On one occasion she went out with friends and woke him up on her return, so he punished her by forcing her to perform a sexual act.

The younger daughter said she spoke to her sister who admitted that the same had been happening with her. They decided to tell their mother and the matter was reported to the authorities.

The man admitted his actions when questioned by the police but justified them by saying he was exposing his children to sexual education.

The court noted that the victims were consistent in their versions and threw out his claim that they had made up the stories because of their parents’ marital problems.

“Although it is true that the children forgave their father for the sexual abuse they suffered during their childhood, the court cannot ignore the serious offences where the abuse was perpetrated by the person who had the duty to care for them, educate them and protect them from such painful experiences in their lives.

“For a long time, they had to submit themselves to the evil will of their father and kept silent to keep the family stable,” the court noted as it confirmed the jail term.