A father who married off his 12-year-old daughter to a man twice her age says he 'couldn't feel better' despite being jailed for at least six years.

The 63-year-old, who can't be named to protect the child's identity, held an Islamic ceremony at his NSW home in January last year in which his daughter 'married' a 26-year-old man.

With her father's consent, the girl then went with her new husband to have sex for the first time in a motel two hours away. They later had sex twice more in the family home. 

He was handed his six-year sentence on Friday after being found guilty of procuring a child aged under 14 for unlawful sexual activity and being an accessory before the fact to a serious indictable offence.

The man (pictured at Sydney's Downing Centre Court) who held an Islamic ceremony at his NSW home in January last year in which his 12-year-old daughter 'married' a 26-year-old has been jailed for six years

'That this man thought his actions were justified by his religious faith does not excuse what he did,' Judge Deborah Sweeney said during sentencing on Friday.

'(The father's) role was to protect his daughter.'

Outside court, the father's barrister Mario Licha was asked about his client's reaction to the sentence.

'His reply was 'everything's perfect. He couldn't feel better',' Mr Licha told reporters.

The father, who converted to Islam 18 years ago, was arrested in February 2014 after his daughter's school principal and child welfare workers informed police about the girl's wedding.

The girl was married in the living room of the family home in NSW after which her father organised for two mattresses to be put together so the newlyweds could have sexual intercourse


The father (left) was found guilty of procuring a child aged under 14 for unlawful sexual activity and being an accessory before the fact to a serious indictable offence

The illegal ceremony took place in the man's weatherboard house on January 12, 2014.

Following the marriage, the man and girl went to a motel where they had sex. 

A week after the wedding, the father asked the girl's older siblings to put two single mattresses next to each other to make a queen sized bed so the couple had somewhere to have sex in the family home.

He instructed his daughter not to use contraceptive pills or condoms with her 26-year-old husband.

Several months after the 'wedding' the girl was taken to hospital with a sharp abdominal pain.

She was suffering from an ectopic pregnancy and miscarried.

A week after the wedding, the father asked the girl's older siblings to put two single mattresses next to each other to make a queen sized bed so the couple had somewhere to have sex in the family home

The court heard the father (pictured) wanted to stop his daughter from committing a sin and believed she had to be married before being sexually active

The father had arranged for his daughter to meet her future husband after noticing she was developing a sexual interest in boys, Judge Sweeney said.

Marriage was the solution to saving her from the sin of premarital sex, the court heard.

The father believed she was old enough to make decisions about marriage as it was what the 'creator' said.

During the man's trial, his now estranged wife and mother of their six children, said she only found out about the marriage when her daughter's husband tried to enrol the girl in high school.

The 26-year-old husband was sentenced in March to a maximum 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the persistent sexual abuse of a child.

During the man's trial, (pictured on right) his now estranged wife and mother of their six children, said she only found out about the marriage when her daughter's husband tried to enrol the girl in high school

The 26-year-old husband (pictured) was sentenced to a maximum 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the persistent sexual abuse of a child