Warning: This story concerns a man convicted of incest and indecent assault charges, and contains descriptions of events that some readers may find disturbing.

A 79-year-old Val-des-Monts, Que., man convicted of sexually abusing two of his daughters for years and fathering three children with one of them has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Gatineau judge.

Jacques Lesage will also be added to the sex offender registry, and has been forbidden from communicating with his two daughters at the centre of this case, as well as another daughter.

Taking into account time served, there are 11 years and eight months left in the sentence.

Lesage was found guilty last Friday of three counts of incest and one count of indecent assault in relation to Lucie Lesage and Nathalie Lesage, now 53 and 49, respectively.

The identities of victims in sexual assault cases are typically protected by a publication ban, but the women in this case asked for the ban to be lifted so that their father's name could be published.

Lucie and Nathalie Lesage hugged in the courtroom and spoke to reporters, clasping each other's hands.

"We're turning a page," Lucie Lesage said in French. "For sure, the wounds are still there, but we'll learn to live with them and to rebuild ourselves totally — a little bit at a time."

They said they were satisfied with the judge's recognition of what they had to endure. They said their father showed no remorse and had been indifferent from the beginning of the process or even portrayed himself as the victim.

Lucie and Nathalie Lesage speak to reporters after their father was sentenced to 15 years in prison. (Amanda Pfeffer/CBC)

Superior Court Justice Michel Pennou said it would be useless to consider reintegrating Lesage into society. He said the only option is to isolate him and impose a penalty that could serve as a deterrent to others.

The judge said Lesage ruined the lives of two of his daughters and turned the lives of the three children he fathered with one of them upside down. Pennou also said Lesage acted without heeding the consequences, and was only looking to satisfy his own sexual impulses.

Crown lawyers had asked for a 20- to 22-year prison sentence, arguing it was warranted by the nature of the violence, the decades of abuse committed against Lucie Lesage and his apparent lack of remorse.

Defence lawyer Antonio Cabral argued for a seven-year sentence, owing to Lesage's age and poor health.

Cabral said the 15-year sentence for incest is one of the most severe in Canadian history and he plans an appeal.

Man fathered daughter's 3 children

Lucie Lesage had told the court that she experienced more than 30 years of at-times constant sexual abuse, beginning when she was eight years old. She said her father kept her in a constant state of fear, and told her if she told anyone about the abuse, the police would take her from her family.

She had the first of his three children when she was 13 years old.

In her victim impact statement, she said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and has never been able to have a normal relationship.

It wasn't until her mother had died and Lesage was an adult that she confided in one of her sisters, and found the courage to come forward to police in 2014.

She advised all abuse victims not to stay quiet.

"Don't hesitate," she said in French in an interview outside the courthouse. "Don't hesitate to denounce those who are trying to keep [their abuse] a secret."

2nd daughter left home as teen

After Lucie Lesage went to police, her sister followed suit.

Nathalie Lesage testified her father first molested her when she was five years old and first raped her when she was eight. She described a childhood spent in a state of perpetual panic that lasted until she left home as a teenager, and said the abuse ruined her life and she too battled PTSD and depression.

She told the court she wanted her father to get the maximum sentence.

After the sentencing, Nathalie said she was satisfied with the judge's decision and the condition that he be added to the sexual offenders registry.

"As long as he's alive, he'll be in the registry as a sexual predator. That's what he is, a sexual predator," she said in French.

Lesage denies some claims

In his own statement, Jacques Lesage continued to deny he had ever touched Nathalie, but acknowledged he abused Lucie.

He also denied abusing a third daughter who came forward, Chantal Knippenberg, now 45. Last Friday, the court found him not guilty of sexual assault and indecent assault in relation to Knippenberg.

Lesage has been incarcerated since he was first charged in 2014, and still faces two separate charges related to another victim: one charge of sexual assault and another charge of sexual interference with a minor.

That separate trial is expected to begin in June.

Below are links to some of the resources available in the region for people in need of help: