Jail for woman who drugged daughter for sexual assault

MELBOURNE - The jail sentence has been doubled for an Australian woman who drugged her 13-year-old daughter, removed her clothes and left her lying naked in bed so that she could be sexually assaulted by the woman’s partner. Her photos were also taken on a mobile phone.

The woman known as ‘MS’ laughed as she mixed sleeping tablets with vodka and orange juice in 2006, in northern Victoria. Her partner, known as TDJ, filmed as MS made her daughter swallow the concoction, Australian news agency AAP reported.

MS then removed her unconscious daughter’s clothes and left her lying naked in bed.

She left the room knowing TDJ intended to film the teen naked. TDJ sexually assaulted the girl and he used his mobile phone to take photos of her.

The Age reported that the Victorian Court of Appeal Wednesday allowed an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions against the leniency of the sentence and increased jail terms handed to both MS and TDJ.

“What is remarkable - and chilling - about the video is the apparently calm determination of (the pair) to achieve their objective,” the justices wrote in their judgement.

“It was, in our view, quite appalling for two adults to overpower the will of a 13-year-old girl in this way, so as to put themselves in a position to abuse her sexually.”

“What makes it worse is that they exploited the daughter’s natural trust in her mother to achieve this result.”

MS, who pleaded guilty to an indecent act with a child under 16 (related to removing the girl’s clothing), procuring a child under 16 to take part in an indecent act and production of child pornography, was originally sentenced to one year and eight months in prison, must now serve four years’ jail.

She will be eligible for parole after serving two years and eight months.