Child Abuse
Representational image Getty Images/ NOAH SEELAM

A 45-year-old man was accused of fathering eight children by raping his girlfriend's underage daughters. The alleged incident took place back in 1995 and the man now faces trial in the case.

Identified only by his initials M.O., the alleged paedophile, belonged to the Belgian city of Ghent. The man repeatedly sexually abused three girls — with one getting pregnant as young as 13 years old. Public prosecutors are demanding M.O. be imprisoned for seven years.

A criminal complaint was filed against the man last year after one of the daughters reported to police about the horrific incidents. The woman came forward after one of her sisters became pregnant with her fifth child, allegedly fathered by the suspect.

"They were afraid of him. He is a narcissistic tyrant," the woman's lawyer told the court. "This dossier is tormenting, painful. The women are destroyed and the worst thing is that the gentleman sees himself as the victim and saviour."

According to the lawyer of the victims, M.O. often went into the twin sisters' room and locked the door behind him and raped them.

"The mother was paralysed with fear. She was often heavily abused in front of the eyes of her children," the lawyer said.

However, the lawyer of M.O. said the accused had consensual sex with the daughters of his girlfriend.

"He has always screamed out his innocence. This is not about rape, it was with consent," he said. "The eight children are proof of sex, and also the proof of consent. One of the sisters is still in love with him."

According to the lawyer, one of the daughters still goes to meet M.O. regularly in prison where he is placed in custody as pre-trial detention.

"This is why I ask for some lenience: a suspended sentence," the lawyer of M.O. said.

Details about the number of children each girl got pregnant with was not revealed due to privacy concerns.

M.O. said during the trial he was "still young when [he] had sex with them" and "there was never a question of rape."

In an unrelated incident, last year, an Argentinian man repeatedly raped his daughter for 22 years and fathered eight children with her. He was sent to jail for 12 years after a trial at a court in the northern city of Santiago del Estero.

Domingo Bulacio, 57, was on the run for 45 days and was arrested in January 2016.