A father who killed his daughter's abuser made an incredible gesture to 'protect' her once again.

A father who murdered the man who sexually assaulted his daughter has stepped in to ‘protect’ her once again.

US man Jay Maynor this week accepted a 40-year prison sentence for the shooting death of Raymond Earl Brooks, 59, reportedly in order to spare his 24-year-old from having to relive the abuse in court.

“Basically he took [the plea bargain] so that I didn’t have to relive the molestation and also be on the stand in front of a bunch of people talking about and bringing back memories of the molestation,” Julie Maynor told al.com.

“My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing father — actually the best. He loves us so much.”

Jay Maynor will spend most of his life in prison. Image: Facebook.

Brooks pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexually assaulting his adoptive granddaughter when she was a young child. The abuse had carried on for up to five years, and ultimately came to light when Julia was eight years old.

"I don't remember when it started happening but I know it was for a very long time," the now-mother of three told al.com. "It was long enough for me to think it was completely normal and made me to feel that he actually loves me in a different kind of way than my mother and father loves me."

Brooks was gunned down by the 43-year-old outside his Alabama home in 2014, on the back of something his daughter told him about the abuse - something she's since forgotten.

"I haven't seen Raymond in years," Julia Maynor told al.com. "It was just something I said out of anger to my father."

Half of Maynor's 20-year sentence is for the attempted murder of his step-daughter's former partner, who he spotted in a convenience store while on his way to murder Brooks, reports al.com.

According to Julia, the victim - who survived uninjured - had previously abused her step sister.

Maynor plead guilty to both crimes and will now spend the next four decades in prison - a term Julia believes is unjust. As is the five-year one handed to Brooks for her abuse.

"He took my innocence away and only served like 18 months, and now I suffer daily from what Raymond did to me," Jullia Maynor said, adding she suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. "It's not fair."