Father Gets 84 Years in Prison for Molestation : Crime: The victims were his own children. His oldest daughter committed suicide last year. Judge calls Fountain Valley businessman’s acts ‘despicable.’

SANTA ANA — A Fountain Valley businessman was sentenced Friday to 84 years in prison and fined $20,000 for sexually molesting his three daughters for nearly a decade.

Edward Cho, 54, hung his head as his 20-year-old daughter said her father was “possessed by Satan” and accused him of driving her older sister--who also was a victim--to suicide last year.

“I want to let you know, Dad, that I am a person and not an object,” said the young woman, who often appeared on the verge of tears but spoke in a loud, clear voice. “It’s really hard for me to call you ‘Dad.’ I really want to deny it. . . . It makes me really sick to know you’re my dad.”

Cho was convicted May 5 of 25 counts of rape, molestation and assault involving his three daughters, including the 23-year-old who died last year. The abuse began when they were between 10 and 14, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin Haskins said.

The father was acquitted of two counts of sexual abuse involving his young son.

Before he was led from court Friday, Cho denied the charges. Speaking through an interpreter, the Korean immigrant said it would “be a sad miscarriage of justice” if he were sent to prison.

“She’s imagining these things. . . . She wants to get back at me, to get her revenge,” Cho said of his daughter who spoke during the sentencing. “I have tried to be a good father.”

But the judge said he had no doubt the father was guilty.

“Your acts are despicable, your conduct is despicable,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard L. Weatherspoon said. “I do not see why you do not take responsibility for your actions.”

In addition to seeking justice through the criminal justice system, Cho’s children also are seeking financial compensation for their pain in civil court. The two surviving daughters and his son have filed a lawsuit against Cho and his wife, alleging that she did nothing to protect them as children. They are seeking $13 million in damages.

The eldest daughter committed suicide in October, 1992. The lawsuit alleges that she was twice impregnated by her father, who then forced her to have abortions.

Weatherspoon ordered Cho to pay a $10,000 fine, $5,000 to each of his two daughters, and some administrative costs. The prosecutor said he believes the father has assets to cover the fines.

Cho’s defense attorney asked the judge for a new trial, contending that Cho’s interpreter during the trial was incompetent. Weatherspoon denied that request, along with a request for a more lenient sentence.

The judge said Cho will not be eligible for parole until 2035, when he is 95 years old.

During her statements to the court, Cho’s 20-year-old daughter accused her father of using her dead sister as “a slave, a second wife, a second obedient wife.”

The woman said her father told her sister that it was normal for them to engage in sexual relations.

“You told her . . . ‘Just imagine me as a movie star.’ You told her to get a boyfriend so she would think of him when she was with you. You told her, ‘Better to have sex with your father instead of getting AIDS,’ ” she said. “I was and still am disgusted by your presence.”