The man had been violating his two young daughters for several years.

OSAKA-The Osaka District Court sentenced a man to 18 years in prison on Tuesday for sexually abusing his two young daughters for several years.

The prison term was three years longer than that sought by prosecutors against the 48-year-old man whose name is being withheld.

Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Asayama said: ``The two daughters received the most serious sexual abuse from their father, who should have been the most trustworthy person for them. Their sense of humiliation, sadness and a feeling of helplessness are beyond description. The prison term sought by prosecutors is too light.''

According to the ruling, the father began sexually abusing the elder daughter around 1998, and the younger daughter in 2001, whom he threatened at knifepoint. By the spring of 2004, the two girls were finally taken under protection at a counseling center. The father came after them, armed with a knife, and broke the entrance-door windows and entered the counseling center.

The girl's mother was apparently incapacitated by illness; the girls had difficulty finding someone to help them.

The elder daughter, who tried to shield her sister from the abuse, is now suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

In determining the sentence, the judge said: ``The prison term sought by prosecutors should be respected. But I cannot imagine a case that is more malicious than this. Therefore, what is said to be the conventional length of prison term for each crime does not exist for this crime.''

Based on that reasoning, he gave the man 18 years, which is close to the legal maximum of 20 years given to a man who has committed several rapes.(IHT/Asahi: December 2,2004)