A 59-year-old man from Rotterdam has been sentenced to five years in jail followed by detention at a secure psychiatric clinic for sexually abusing and beating his daughter between the ages of 12 and 19.

Her twin brothers (24) also abused her and were given sentences of 32 months, eight suspended.

The abuse took place within a strict Protestant family environment, in which the father would rape the girl and then ask forgiveness on “biblical grounds”, local broadcaster Rijnmond said.

The three men denied all or part of the accusations but the court decided the victim’s declarations were “consistent and detailed”.

Her mother confirmed that her husband “touched’ his daughter and “gave her a beating”, using his hand or a stick. The children in the family were isolated and not allowed to play with other children, the director of the girl’s former school said in court.

The public prosecution had demanded a sentence of eight years for the father and 54 months for the twin brothers and treatment at a psychiatric prison for all three.

The father’s sentence was reduced because he suffers from several mental disorders. The judge also decided psychiatric prison would not be appropriate for the sons, who, like the father are autistic, because they had grown up in an environment in which they were denied normal sexual development.

They will have to seek treatment, however, the judge said.