The sexual abuse of a child for years in the family home at the hands of her own mother and stepfather “defies any humanity”, a judge has said.
In a case in which the mother’s own lawyer described as “confronting” and “disturbing”, the girl was abused from the age of eight until her teens to “satisfy” her stepfather, who is now enduring a long bid in jail.
The mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was today found guilty of the prolonged sexual abuse of the girl.
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The woman sexually abused her daughter in her home country, with her future husband, before the pair joined him in his home of Perth, where the abuse continued.
Judge Laurie Levy, who heard the trial without a jury, found the woman guilty of all five charges she was facing.
After the judge revealed his verdicts, the prosecutor said the state considered the woman’s crimes to be “in the worst category”.
Judge Levy said the case “defies any humanity”.
He considered the child exploitation material that had been tendered to be in the “higher category” of seriousness.
Woman showed no emotion
The woman, who is in her forties, showed no reaction, and looked at the floor for the duration of the proceedings.
The court was told her husband, the girl’s stepfather, had been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison after a ‘fast track’ plea in relation to crimes against the girl.
The mother’s charges included possessing child exploitation material, producing child exploitation material, sexual penetration of a child under 13, sexual penetration of a child between 13 and 16, and persistent sexual conduct with a child under 16.
The woman, who was on bail, was taken into custody and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for September.
The courtroom was closed to the public for much of the trial. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
The District Court had heard how the Perth man had online interactions with the mother before he flew to her country and started abusing her daughter, who was then eight years old.
The court was told the mother had taken intimate photos of her daughter and sent them to the man, and later took photos of him having sex with the girl.
The girl was asked to record videos of the mother and her husband having sex.
In evidence to the court, the girl said she was forced to participate in sexual activities, and would be allowed to go and do what she wanted afterwards.
Girl described abuse as ‘duties’
The girl described it as if it was a chore, saying she was “relieved of my duties” once the interaction was over.
The mother had told police in an interview that after they connected online, the man flew to her country.
She said she did not know if he had sex with her daughter, who was about eight years old during that first trip.
But she did admit he had talked about wanting it to happen when she was a teenager.
“He had those ideas, but I didn’t consider them seriously,” she told police.
The woman said the man had told her that her daughter would get an “education” if she watched them having sex.
She described him as “also very, very caring”, saying her previous husband wanted to take “no responsibility at all”.
But she did admit to sending the man photos of her daughter in sexual positions.
Woman on trial for sexually abusing daughter
She also said it was “possible” she took a photo of the man having sex with her daughter.
Police asked her if she had recorded sexual acts between them in Australia and she admitted that was “possible”.
The mother told police she and he had been talking about having a baby boy together.
Detectives asked the mother if the man had suggested he could sleep with the daughter and she could sleep with the boy.
“He did say that but I didn’t take him seriously,” she told police.
Woman claimed ‘blackmail’
During an interview, one of the detectives put it to her “you’re letting him offend against your daughter”.
She claimed he was controlling her, and she was scared.
A detective asked why she came to Australia to live with him when it was likely there would be “more of that”, meaning sex with her daughter.
She responded that he was “blackmailing” her.
The mother said she only encouraged her daughter to “do what she is comfortable with”.
Her lawyer Simon Freitag told the court his client didn’t have a clear memory of what happened, and may have been drugged.
Lawyer Simon Freitag represented the woman. (ABC News: David Weber)
He said the mother may not have participated willingly in the “contact offending” and she should not be tarred with the same brush as her husband.
The court was closed to the public for much of the trial.
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