Crown calls mother's sexual abuse of children 'vile' and 'monstrous'

A Crown prosecutor used "vile," "monstrous," "ghastly" and "horrific" to describe Tuesday the actions of a 40-year-old Bedford, N.S., woman who sexually abused her two youngest children for the entertainment of an American pedophile who watched online.

The woman, who has pleaded guilty to eight charges including sexual assault, making child pornography and corrupting a child, is in the midst of a three-daysentencing hearing in Halifax provincial court.

On Tuesday, the lead investigator in the case, RCMP Cpl. Laura Seeley, testified it was the worst case she's ever investigated. It also stood out, Seeley said, because most other cases she's investigated have involved men.

The mother'sname is banned from publication to protect her four children.Her American accomplice is already serving a 26-year sentence. Text messages retrieved by police suggest the woman was in love with him and agreed to abuse her children for his pleasure.

Father's victim impact statement

Before Crown prosecutor Peter Dostal made his final arguments, two victim impact statements were read into the record, including one from the woman's previous husband andthe father of the children. They had separated in 2011, and henow has custody of the children.

He spoke of how the case has destroyed his trust.

"Every person who has contact with my children is perceived as a villain and someone who can potentially harm them," he wrote.

"In addition, I feel I can no longer trust any woman who might have contact with my children, which has made relationships impossible."

'I begin to feel physically sick'

The second victim impact statement was from the oldest daughter, who was around 14 at the time of the crimes. She was not molested like her two youngest siblings, but she was videoed nude by cameras her mother had concealed in her bedroom and the bathroom.One of the cameras wasinside an alarm clock.

"If I see a digital alarm clock," the girl wrote, "I begin to feel physically sick.

"Not only did I lose my mother, who I felt was my best friend, I lost my drive to do anything and gained hurt and anxiety."

The girl wrote about nightmares she's had where "the offender," as she called her mother, escapes and tries to kidnap her and her younger brother and sister.

The girl and her father both told the court they don't trust the woman's mother, who they said would likely help herin any effort to get access to the children.

Mother groomed girl for abuse

In all, investigators retrieved 23 hours of video, shot between September 2016 and March 2018 and often shared using the file-sharing service Dropbox.

In his sentencing arguments before Judge Elizabeth Buckle, Dostal said one of the most aggravating factors in the case is the betrayal of trust.

"There is no greater relationship of trust than that which exists between a mother and her adolescent child," he said.

Dostal said only a person in such a position of trust could get close enough to the children to harm them this way. He also cited as aggravating factors how the woman groomed her young daughter to make it seem as though the sexual abuse was normal, and the fact the abuse took place in their home where they should feel safest.

In arguing for a 10-year sentence, Dostal said a strong message of denunciation and deterrence must be sent to anyone else who might consider abusing a child in this way.

He said these crimes were not detected in Canada; it wasonly by luck and police work in the United States that the woman was caught. Otherwise, Dostal said, "this could very well be ongoing even into today."

The court has heard that police in Nova Scotia were initially alerted to the activity by officers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who were investigating the American man.

Valentine's Day gift

In anticipating defence arguments, which are to be made Wednesday, Dostal urged the judge not to give too much weight to the fact the woman committed some of the offences under the direction of her American accomplice.

Dostal pointed out that, without prodding from the American, the woman gathered video of her abusing her children, then posted it to the Dropbox where he could retrieve it. She thensent him a Facebook message: "I made you the best Valentine's Day gift ever."

The defence is seeking a seven-year sentence.

The woman sat quietly at the defence table throughout most of Tuesday'sarguments but could be seen tearing up on a couple of occasions.