The man, aged in his 60s, began molesting his daughter in the 1970s when she was 11 and continued until 2007, Melbourne's Herald Sun said.

Victoria police refused to confirm details of the case, saying it was under a court order banning reporting of proceedings and identifying the accused.

The paper said the daughter was kept a virtual prisoner in the family home in the town of Morwell, about 100 kilometers east of Melbourne.

Media made comparisons with the case of Fritzl, who was jailed for life in May for holding his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years in a windowless chamber and murdering one of their seven children.

The wife of the accused, also the victim's mother, denied any knowledge of the abuse, the Herald Sun said, adding neighbors and child welfare authorities failed to act on suspicions about the man.

"We lived in a big house, so I wouldn't have known," the wife told the newspaper. "He had a very sharp tongue. He was a drinker."

Victoria state Premier John Brumby said the full force of the law will be applied, acknowledging there would be questions about why the alleged abuse was not detected earlier.

"Obviously any crime of this type is one that is shocking and that is personally repulsive to me and to other Victorians," he told reporters.

Police will reportedly use DNA evidence to prove the man is the biological father of his daughter's children when the case goes before the courts in November.

The Herald Sun said all the victim's four children were born with birth defects in major Melbourne hospitals. One of them, a girl, died as a result of her health problems.

The victim's mother said her daughter would "clam up" when questioned about who fathered her children, giving vague answers about meeting men in nightclubs.

She described her husband as moody and abusive but said she never suspected him of sex crimes.

The report said the victim went to police in 2005 after a neighbor urged her to take action, but then refused to cooperate further because she feared for her safety. However, she returned to police in June last year and gave a statement.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE