A teen babysitter who was subjected to more than 16 hours of sadistic torture says the two depraved couples responsible for her misery ‘deserve’ to rot behind bars.
For almost a full day the girl, who cannot be named, was tied up, beaten, tortured and held in a closet with a leash around her neck as her captives accused her of being a ‘dog’ – all while filming the barbarity on her mobile phone.
Three members of the gang of drug-addicted parents received sentences ranging from three to almost nine years in prison, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.
‘I felt just numb really (in court)… They can think long and hard about what they did to me and suffer,’ the woman, who was 19 at the time of the abuse but is now 21, told the publication.
A teenage babysitter who was subjected to more than 16 hours of sadistic torture says the two depraved couples responsible for her misery ‘deserve’ to rot behind bars (pictured the victim’s blackened eyes)
Judge Jack Costello handed the gang’s leader, Joshua Anthony Gent (left), a term of nine years, two months and one week in jail for the brutal attack. His former partner, Keira Jane Baker (right), 28, was sentenced to six years and two months
Patrick Breen, 25, received three years and 11 months, while his fiancée and mother of two Stacey Gaffney, 23, was given a 14-month suspended sentence (pictured together)
The bedroom and closet where the victim was detained, with jumper leads on the floor and a butane canister on the bed
The case, which was among the worst legal sources have seen before South Australian courts that didn’t involve a murder, began because the drug addicted parents believed the girl had dobbed in their friend to police over a stolen car.
‘I’m pretty happy now that they are getting the time that is well deserved,’ the victim said after the parents were sentenced in an Adelaide Court on Wednesday.
‘I have mixed emotions but I am just glad that I won’t see them in public.
Judge Jack Costello handed the group leader, Joshua Anthony Gent, a term of nine years, two months and one week in jail for the brutal attack.
His former partner, Keira Jane Baker, 28, was sentenced to six years and two months.
Patrick Breen, 25, received three years and 11 months, while his fiancée and mother of two Stacey Gaffney, 23, was given a 14-month suspended sentence.
Gaffney, who cried in the courtroom with Baker, is said to have had a passive role during the ordeal, the publication reported.
For almost a full day the girl, who cannot be named, was tied up, beaten, tortured and held in a closet with a leash around her neck as her captives accused the teen of being a ‘dog’; all while filming the barbarity on her mobile phone (pictured are some of her extensive injuries)
The young and terrified teenager was forced to eat pet food (left) and drink bleach (right) during the ordeal
An ice pipe burn inflicted on the torture victim (above)
The group previously admitted their involvement and Gent, Baker and Breen were facing up to 25 years each in prison.
They also confessed to stealing the girls’ mobile phone, bank card, laptop, jewellery, make-up and other items valued up to $2500.
On June 16, 2016, the victim and her housemate went to babysit Baker and Gent’s daughter.
When the couple returned to their Elizabeth Park home at 12.30am they accused the girl of being a snitch and referred to her as a dog, before calling Breen to ‘teach her a lesson.’
The girl was tied up with a dressing gown cord and gagged with an onion before Baker and Gent threw her in the boot of their car and drove to Breen and Gaffney’s home.
Throughout the 16 hours of abuse the girl was tied to a dog leash, beaten, burned with a drug pipe, made to drink bleach, eat pet food, smoke methamphetamine, inhale butane gas and clean up her own urine after she wet herself out of fear.
Prosecutor Kelly Smith said the couples filmed much of the ordeal and made the teenager believe she was going to be ‘raped and killed’.
Even more shocking is that Gaffney’s two-year-old son was in another room at the same time, a sentencing submissions hearing heard last month (pictured weapons and phones used during the torture)
A cigarette lighter (left) and axe (right) used against the babysitter
The girl was left deeply traumatised by her ordeal in this closet (above)
The victim’s neck, which was choked with a dog lead, and her hair (right) which was cut off during the attack
Even more shocking is that Gaffney’s two-year-old son was in another room at the same time, a sentencing submissions hearing heard last month.
Ms Smith said the ‘horrific ordeal’ only ended when police rescued her at 9.09pm on Friday, June 17, after the housemate’s mother contacted authorities.
Police uncovered weapons such as knuckledusters, screwdrivers and car jumper leads at the scene of the crime which were used to ‘inflict extreme pain, suffering and instil terror on the victim’.
The victim was unable to read her victim impact statement in court in August last month because of the ‘heart-breaking trauma’ she had endured.
Dog food (centre) which was fed to the victim