Saskatoon mother going to prison for filming sexual assaults on 4-year-old daughter

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.

A Saskatoon mother who filmed her sexual assaults on her four-year-old daughter is going to prison.

Justice Natasha Crooks sentenced the woman, who cannot be named because it would identify the victim, to a net sentence of eight years and four months on Friday.

"What the court noted was there is no greater position of trust and authority than a mother over a child,"prosecutor Lana Morelli said outside Court of King's Bench.

"In this case, the child was four years old and her entire being and world revolved around her mother," she said.

"That is how I viewed the judge's decision, that there is no greater betrayal as between a mother and a child."

The woman pleaded guilty to bestiality, and was then convicted at trial ofsexual interference of a person under the age of 16, making and distributing child pornography,making arrangements to commit a sexual offence against a child and two breaches of a release order.

The convictionsrelate toassaults that happened between 2019 and 2021.

The investigation began after police were contacted in early 2021 with a report that a child was being sexually assaulted and images of her were being shared over a social media platform.

In her decision, Justice Crooks noted that the woman continually deflected blame for her actions.

"She appears to justify her actions, reporting that she chatted with men online about her children in a sexual way in order to placate them so they would not look for other children," Crooks said.

"She stated the same about her involvement with bestiality she did not want to do this, but believed she was providing this so that these individuals would not abuse children."

Morelli said the court saw through the evasions.

"Her personality is quite manipulative, and the court saw through those lies the court saw through the explanations to see the truth," she said.

Crooks had accepted the Crown's submission of an 11-year sentence, but Morelli said that was reduced.

"The court must consider whether or not it's a crushing sentence ...11-and-a-half [years] would be appropriate, but in this situation it would be crushing," Morelli said.

For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.