Mother aided abuse of girl

A WOMAN has spoken about the repulsive breach of trust that saw her sexually abused hundreds of times as a child.

Her mother, now aged 72, has been jailed after pleading guilty in Townsville District Court to incest and permitting the abuse of a child under 16 on premises.

Judge John Coker said, as a child in the late 1970s and early ‘ 80s, the victim was subjected to “abuse of a sexual nature in every manner that could possibly be imagined”.

Police prosecutor Andrew Walklate said the mother knowingly allowed her husband to sexually abuse their daughter when she was aged between 10 and 16.

He said the charge of incest related to a particular week when the mother entered an agreement with the father which saw her swap beds with her daughter to allow him to “get it out of his system”.

“For about a week when the complainant was about 15 years old the defendant swapped bedrooms with the com- plainant . . . that was in order to facilitate the sexual activity taking place,” Mr Walklate said.

“( The mother) was to vacate the bedroom every night for a week in order for the complainant to enter the bedroom and enable ( the father) to do what he wanted to do.

“The complainant would walk past the defendant in the hallway as she was carrying her pillow.”

Mr Walklate said the mother had become aware of the offending years earlier and had discussed the abuse with her daughter and husband on many occasions.

The victim, now a mother in her own right, bravely voiced her victim impact statement in court.

She said it had taken her years to fully comprehend what had happened to her and begin the healing process.

“My parents were supposed to be the ones who cared for and protected me, not the ones who abused me,” the victim said.

“Your role was to be the one who stood up and protected me. Your non- actions were as harmful as his actions.”

Barrister Scott Geeves, representing the mother, said his client had a great deal of remorse for what had happened to her daughter.

He said the woman had never been in trouble with the law and was a valued member of the community.

Mr Geeves said his client had spoken to a general practitioner about the abuse during the time of the offending and the court heard the advice she was given was to “go home and ignore the situation”.

Judge Coker labelled this advice “horrendous” but said the ultimate responsibility to protect her child fell on the accused. He said eventually the mother went to her own parents for assistance and the abuse ceased after intervention from the victim’s grandfather.

Judge Coker took the woman’s age, lack of criminal history and his certainty that she would not reoffend into account when he sentenced her to two years imprisonment, to be suspended after four months.