A NSW father found guilty of procuring his 12-year-old daughter for sex by facilitating her "marriage" could face a tough time in jail because of his Muslim faith, his lawyer has told a Sydney court.
The 63-year-old, who can't be named, held an Islamic ceremony at his NSW home in January last year in which his daughter "married" a 26-year-old man. The couple later had sex twice at his home.
During sentencing submissions on Friday, his barrister, Mario Licha, told Downing Centre District Court that the religious backdrop of the offence, combined with prejudice against Muslims, may make his time in custody "onerous".
"The way this offence has evolved is against the backdrop of his faith as a Muslim," Mr Licha told the court - a faith he said was presently seen in "not a great light".
"The nature of the offence and his faith, and the birth of this offence coming from the Quran ... that may cause his time in custody to be onerous."
He submitted that Judge Deborah Sweeney should take this into account as a special circumstance when she hands down his sentence in July.
Judge Sweeney found the man guilty in April of procuring a child aged under 14 for unlawful sexual activity and being an accessory before the fact to a serious indictable offence.
In a judge-alone trial, she found the man had allowed the wedding to happen, allowed his daughter to go to a motel that night to have sex, and had instructed her that it was forbidden for she or her "husband" to use contraception.
He had also hosted them at his house the following weekend, where they had sex on two single mattresses pushed together at the father's direction.
During the trial, the court heard the man believed his daughter, who was showing signs of becoming interested in boys, was old enough to decide if she should be "married" because it's what the "creator" said.
He had told police he was stopping the sin of extra-marital sex by consenting to her wedding.
At Friday's submissions hearing, crown prosecutor Siobhan Herbert said both offences were particularly serious given the breach of trust involved and the man's failure to protect his daughter.
She said he had failed to demonstrate insight into the seriousness of the offences.
The man will remain behind bars after his bail was revoked in April.
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