Mum jailed for indecent photo-shoot with daughter

File photo / NZ Herald

A Christchurch prostitute who arranged to do an indecent photo shoot with her 15-year-old daughter has been jailed for 20 months and told her behaviour was "almost inexplicable conduct by a mother".

In Christchurch District Court today Judge Stephen Erber granted permanent name suppression to protect the identity of the daughter, who is now in foster care. Two other children are in the care of their father.

The woman, 40, pleaded guilty to a charge of with doing an indecent act with a dependent family member.

Defence counsel Richard McGuire called for a sentence of home detention, rather than prison, saying the woman had already had her children taken from her. She needed rehabilitation and counselling.

"She has some limitations in terms of her grasp on how she has got herself into this situation," he said.

Judge Erber said the woman had met a man - his name is also suppressed because of his arrest - on the internet on August 2.

While they had a conversation on webcam, the woman's daughter came into view and the man suggested she could be "model material". He proposed that photographs should be taken to be sent to a model agency in the United States.

The man flew to Christchurch and the woman and daughter met him at a motel. The woman had provided her daughter with a g-string.

The man had only a cheap camera that would not work so the photo-shoot went ahead with the mother's camera.

Photographs were taken of the woman and her daughter individually, and of them together, including with the mother holding the girl's breasts and with the girl lying on top of her. The mother was naked.

"There are a lot of photographs of the child in various states of undress," Judge Erber said.

The mother later downloaded the photographs off the camera and sent them to the photographer. When police found out, she admitted she had been stupid.

"Quite apart from the damage that has been done to the child, there is the additional factor that there is a chance that all these photographs are in cyberspace somewhere being able to be accessed by people."

After the offending, the girl had been placed in foster care where it seemed she may have been abused.

It was clear that in her life at home she was more of a servant than a daughter. She cared for a younger child who needed care, while the mother had financial problems and worked as a prostitute.

The girl was proving to be resilient and now well adjusted in foster care, although she wanted to live with her father.

"The circumstances are not perfect but at least she's having some fun out of life."

The woman said she had been bullied into the offending by the photographer, but the crown disputed her claim of "innocent gullibility".

The judge said he had been shown text messages between the mother and another person, which showed the photo-shoot had been arranged with the woman's active participation and she had arranged beforehand for her camera to be used.

"The indecent act of holding the daughter's breasts was arranged and discussed beforehand. Your explanations to the probation officer and the police seem to be a unedifying concoction, or worse, insincere regret."

The daughter had been vulnerable and in no position to resist. She had sustained harm, but happily it seemed the harm may not be permanent.

He noted that the woman had exposed her daughter indecently against her inclinations. She knew her daughter was reluctant to have any female sexual contact. The mother had texted: "She's not into the bi-thing."

The mother's actions had been done "quite calculatedly and cynically", which had involved her daughter in the sordid world she inhabited at that time. "It is almost inexplicable conduct by a mother."

He allowed a reduction of sentence for her guilty pleas and jailed her for 20 months.

The court was told that the photographer had been arrested in Auckland and charged with being a party to the indecency and possession of some other videos. He has appeared in court and been remanded without plea.

- NZPA