Mother on trial for sexual abuse of young daughter with ‘evil’ Perth man admits taking indecent photos

A mother is fighting allegations she sexually abused her young daughter with an “evil” Perth man, arguing there were reasons she “played along” with his unashamed pedophilia. The accused, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of the now teenager, went on trial before District Court of WA Judge Laurie Levy, sitting without a jury, on Tuesday. The woman has pleaded not guilty to five vile crimes including producing child exploitation material, despite admitting she sent indecent images of the girl to the man from Europe after they met online. Early in the relationship, he told the woman that he loved “incest and child sex”, and was proud of being different. The woman moved to Perth with her daughter and married the man, and the girl “became a sexual plaything” for the pair when she was aged under 10, prosecutor Sean Stocks said. “What do you think about me liking our daughter the way I do?” he wrote to her. “I want the best for her in life and that means giving her an education in everything.” Mr Stocks said the woman recorded his abuse and sometimes facilitated it, even livestreaming indecent content to him when he wasn’t there “to satisfy his sexual fantasies”. “They also discussed having a child of their own who could also be involved in sexual conduct,” the prosecutor said. The woman was one of the man’s two wives and there was discussion about her getting a second husband, Mr Stocks added. When police raided their home in Perth’s east in relation to a separate child sex complaint, officers found a handwritten, explicit note on a bookcase that the daughter had written. “Daddy, I’m going to bed soon,” the note began, ending “sweet dreams”. When the abuse progressed to sex, the girl was told “how brave” she was, Mr Stocks said. And when the woman was arrested, she whispered in the girls’ ear to “delete the evidence” while hugging the child, then started purging content from her phone before officers seized the device, the prosecutor alleged. Defence counsel Simon Freitag said the case was disturbing and confronting, and to say his client had some moral lapses was an understatement. She accepted her daughter was a victim, molested over several years at an early age by an “evil and persistent” man. But the woman denied assisting him or physically offending against the girl herself, Mr Freitag said. The man “drove” the offending in “unashamed” and “enthusiastic” way, and pressured the woman with “very specific requests”, he said. He had threatened to cancel her visa, send nude photos of the woman to her family and friends back home, and take his own life. “She played along with his desires in order to protect herself and keep him happy,” Mr Freitag said. He conceded she had $US15,000 that she could have used to flee Australia. The man was jailed for 23 years and six months imprisonment in 2023, with eligibility for parole after serving 21 years and six months. The trial continues. Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 Sexual Assault Resource Centre 1800 199 888