OTTAWA -- A 48-year-old Kanata, ON, man who took photos of his 10-year-old stepdaughter in her mother's lingerie and showed her porn as he molested her was sentenced to 20 months behind bars Thursday.

But it's his teen victim who told the court that she feels "locked inside my own world" of pain.

Sexually abused from age eight to 14, she's been cutting herself and tried to take her own life three times in the last year.

"I feel that love will never find me because I do not deserve it and that ultimately love will hurt me," she wrote in a victim-impact statement read by Crown attorney John Ramsay.

"I feel as though I am a dirty whore that is not even worthy of love and kindness."

In March 2011, the girl told her mother that her stepfather -- an account manager and hockey coach -- came into her room, touched her, performed oral sex on her and asked her to perform oral sex on him while the mother was on a business trip the previous fall.

The first assault she remembers was in the middle of Grade 3 when her stepfather came into her bedroom and asked her to "play" or "cuddle."

To him, that meant fondling her and showing her how to masturbate him.

The abuse, which happened two to three times a week, was "routine," the victim said. It got more intense over time and included everything short of intercourse.

It ended when the girl asked her stepfather to stop because she felt guilty, as though she was cheating on her first boyfriend.

The stepfather -- who can't be identified -- pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference.

Defence lawyer Michael Johnston argued his client, who tearfully apologized, stopped drinking and sought sex offender treatment at his own expense, which he'll continue in jail and during three years probation.

A psychiatrist concluded he's a low risk to reoffend and his problem is alcoholism not pedophilia -- although the victim told police the assaults happened when her stepfather was sober, too.

His children and mother are standing by him because they see it as "an aberration" for someone who's "trustworthy" and "giving," Johnston said.

Judge Robert Fournier said his crimes are "reprehensible" and inflicted lasting harm on his victim.

"We're concerned about broken souls," Fournier said. "That's the worst thing when you've had your trust breached in this fashion: you do not trust."