KEY POINTS:
The woman facing fresh child abuse charges after being acquitted last year of assaulting her teenage son with a horsewhip still has custody of her 12-year-old daughter.
Child Youth and Family would not discuss the woman's case, but the Herald on Sunday has learned social workers unsuccessfully petitioned the Family Court to have her removed.
It is understood one of CYF's concerns was that the woman's husband had been in an incestuous relationship with his sister 35 years ago.
The woman confirmed her husband had been convicted for incest but said he was 14 at the time and had not reoffended since.
However, she said that as a precaution, her husband was never left unsupervised with her daughter. He had also undergone independent psychological testing and had no sexual tendencies towards children, she said.
Her daughter was also aware of her stepfather's past, as were her friends.
"He is not a paedophile. He is a good role model and has a good relationship with my daughter."
The Timaru woman has four children - a son in his early 20s, the two teenage boys who were the subject of the criminal complaints and the 12-year-old. One of the teenagers is in the custody of his grandfather, who lives next to the Timaru woman, while the other lives with his father in Queenstown.
She said her daughter, who she described as "my perfect little angel", was nothing like her two brothers and rarely needed disciplining. She was a joy and was much loved.
The woman, who has name suppression, appeared on Friday in the Timaru District Court with her husband for a depositions hearing on charges relating to her second-eldest son. Following that hearing, the stepfather pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and not guilty to one charge of assault with intent to injure, while the woman pleaded not guilty to three charges of assault and to one of assault with intent to injure.
The pair have been remanded on bail and will reappear later this month for a trial date to be set. The woman's son said he had been punched by the couple and then hog-tied and kicked by his stepfather in January last year.
This, according to court documents, followed a verbal stoush between the boy and his stepfather that resulted in his mother slapping and punching the teenager in the face.
After the teenage boy retaliated by punching his mother on the temple, the stepfather hit him with a closed fist and then kicked him in the chest and kidneys, the court heard.
The man told his wife to get some tape from the vehicle, and he then bound the boy's arms and taped them to his leg.
The woman's acquittal last year on charges of assaulting her son with a horsewhip was used as justification for Green MP Sue Bradford's anti-smacking bill.
