Man Rapes Drunk Daughter, Mistook Her For Wife On Wedding Night

A 50-year-old man in Denmark was found guilty of raping his daughter on his wedding night, although the accused insisted he had mistaken his 20-year-old daughter to be his wife.

The incident took place in Kolding, southern Denmark, in August and resulted in all forms of contact being severed between the unnamed father and daughter. On Wednesday, the man was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. Wednesday’s hearing was the first time since the incident that the accused came face to face with the victim.

During his trial, the man denied allegations that suggested he knowingly raped his daughter. He explained he had been out of touch with his daughter for years before reconnecting in the Christmas of 2017. That is when he invited her to attend his wedding ceremony.

After the daughter got “very intoxicated” at the wedding reception, the 50-year-old man and his friend decided to take her up to the bridal suite, instead of the previously decided bed and breakfast nearby where she was supposed to stay for the night. “The other guests who were also supposed to sleep there, should not take responsibility for my daughter when she was so drunk. So I chose to put her in my bed,” the man said, according to the court documents obtained by local newspaper JydskeVestkysten.

After putting the 20-year-old to bed, the two men returned to the reception. “She [the daughter] fell into bed. She was still wearing her clothes. We didn't take her clothes off because she was so drunk,” the man said.

The man returned to the same suite an hour and a half later and went to bed. Although he was used to sleeping naked, the man said he put on his shorts after realizing that he was going to sleep next to his daughter. By then, his wife had also returned to the same room and he went to sleep between the two women.

All the man remembered from what transpired next was his daughter asking him for the phone in the middle of the night. However, court documents suggested the man forced himself on his daughter in the early hours of the next day despite her protests: “When she asked him to stop and tried to sit up, he pushed her hard on the chest. After this, while she was on her back, he forced sexual intercourse despite her begging him to stop, several times.”

Prosecutors told the court the victim was unable to defend herself because she was heavily drunk. After the incident, the daughter went back home. After a few days, the man contacted the victim, inviting her to join the newly married couple on a trip to Berlin. However, after a week, the 20-year-old texted her father, telling him to stay away from her.

"Hey. I don't want to go to Berlin. I think we should cease all contact," the daughter wrote, according to local newspaper Ekstrabladet. "What you have subjected me to, is something I cannot accept. I asked you nicely to stop and you continued. I shouted, you continued, I hit you, you continued."

The man replied: "It was a mistake. I'm sorry. I thought it was [wife's name]. Can't we try to stay in touch? I'm sorry."