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Warning: This story contains evidence of a sexual nature which some readers may find upsetting
A young girl who was drugged and sexually abused by her own mother says she still loves her despite everything she has endured.
The teenager, who was 8 when the abuse began, was in court today for the sentencing of her mother and stepfather who were jailed for 12 and a half years and 17 years respectively for the abuse they inflicted on her for nearly six years.
"I was a plaything, a slave in my home," the girl said in a statement read to the court.
On many occasions the couple would film the sometimes hours-long abuse in which the girl was repeatedly violated, had explicit messages written on her body and was made to call her stepfather "master".
However, the girl - who has permanent name suppression and sat stoically in the back of the court during the sentencing - said her mother was just as much a slave, and that she still loved and supported her.
"I love my mother and I will support her in her journey… But that man does not even deserve my presence today," she said.
"You abused your power as a parent… You broke me, abused me and raped me. I should have been your little girl."
Her stepfather hung his head in the dock, flanked by two police officers, while his wife locked eyes with the daughter she'd coerced into sexually gratifying her husband.
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"Is a child supposed to be full of meth, violence, sexual abuse and control? This was the only childhood I knew," the girl said in her statement.
"I saw so much abuse towards my mother, you broke her until she had no strength to fight back. Then you turned your sights on me."
She said she was still nervous talking to men: "to me they represent violence". However, she had now found her voice and no longer lived in fear of her stepfather.
"The only thing I am thankful for in this ordeal is that the truth is out."
"I hope after today I will be able to build my relationship with my mum again, I wish to be able to write to her from this day on.
"I know she despises you."
The couple - who both have name suppression to protect the identity of their victim - both pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including rape, making and possessing objectionable material, unlawful sexual connection and administering methamphetamine.
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Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Today in the Palmerston North High Court Justice David Kendall sentenced the stepfather to 17 years in prison and the girl's mother to 12 years and six months.
Justice Kendall noted that the offending had a high degree of planning, premeditation, the vulnerability of the victim, breach of trust and an extreme degree of violation.
"This offending is in the most serious of all sexual violation cases."
He said the footage he had viewed of the offending was "disturbing" and showed grooming behaviour that was both sustained and regular.
"It is chilling and harrowing to hear the victim's genuine words about this haunting ordeal for her," he said.
"The victim was extremely vulnerable and she was dependent on you both as her parents.
"The victim had no way to escape this repeated offending with no other adult to turn to."
Justice Kendall said in his sentencing notes that the mother had seen her arrest as a blessing, and as a way to escape an abusive, controlling relationship.
"This report notes that she was highly traumatised and sad that she was unable to protect her daughter from this offending," he said.
"A clear picture of manipulation, coercion and control has emerged... this could be categorised as social entrapment," he said,
Justice Kendall went on to say that it was possible that the woman would not have offended against the victim if she hadn't been coerced by her husband.
According to the Summary of Facts the girl's mother began grooming her eight-year-old daughter for her husband's sexual gratification while they lived overseas in 2014.
Initially, the girl's mother encouraged her to play games she called "play-time" and "cuddles" which involved showing her how to touch her stepfather's penis until it became erect.
In a statement to police the woman said she wasn't exactly sure when the grooming began.
"I want to say eight or nine, I don't know, I think she might have been younger. I don't know...as she got older and started to understand more, I guess she was brought into it more often, more so watching and touching than anything else."
In 2017 the family returned to New Zealand.
The following year and up until 2020 the offending escalated - not only in frequency but in the nature of the sexual acts the girl was made to perform on her mother and stepfather, and had performed on her.
The girl was repeatedly raped by her stepfather and repeatedly sexual violated by her mother using a sexual device. She was forced to perform oral sex on her mother and stepfather, and had both do the same to her.
The girl was dressed in lingerie and has explicit messages written on her body for photos.
On some occasions she had a leash placed around her neck and was once told to refer to her stepfather as "master".
The abuse was recorded by the couple by live video and in still images and depicted sexual offending that sometimes lasted several hours.
Eight counts of administering methamphetamine, which was also recorded on videos made by the couple, were part of the raft of charges the couple faced.
Regarding the frequency with which they would make the girl consume meth, the girl's mother told police that it just "seemed to get more regular".
"Just more often and um longer periods of t- (time), longer sessions be like the only word I could use."
On the 12th of November 2020, police executed a search warrant at the couple's address and seized numerous electronic items as exhibits including several computer hard drives and iPhones.
At the conclusion of the investigation more than 14 hours of video and 91 still images were seized and analysed.
In addition to the drug offending, the couple was charged with five counts of sexual conduct with a child outside New Zealand, 16 counts of making an objectionable publication, eight charges of rape, fifteen of sexual violation and two of possession of objectionable material.
Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said that the girl's mother had exploited her daughter's trust in coercing her to engage in sexual acts with her stepfather.
He described it as "nothing less than prolonged sexual subjugation of an unspeakable form.
"The complainant trusted her mother in the circumstances where the mother brought her in to be offended against," he said.
The mother's lawyer Simon Hewson said his client had complied with police fully and gave evidence.
"My client does not shy away from the role she has played in damaging the victim.
"She sought to assist that inquiry and answered any question that was asked of her no matter how painful."
The stepfather's lawyer Paul Murray asked the judge to take into account the man's own history of trauma and sexual abuse.
In submissions to the court his lawyer said he was raped by a male family friend and was sexually abused by a staff member at a boarding school.
This led to a life of drug abuse and sexual deviance which formed a clear link to the offending against his stepdaughter.
However, the man had refused to make any statement when initially questioned by police.
- Jeremy Wilkinson, Open justice
Where to get help:
0800 842 846
0800 88 33 00
Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): be 04 801 6655 - 0
: a 24/7 confidential helpline for survivors, support people and those with harmful sexual behaviour: 0800044334.
- Tiaki Tangata Peer support for males who have experienced trauma and sexual abuse: 0800 94 22 94
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
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