A South Coast mother has been convicted after she admitted to concealing her now estranged husband's sexual abuse of one of her daughters.
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Magistrate Doug Dick sentenced the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in Bega Local Court on Tuesday, July 9 to a three-year community correction order for concealing a serious indictable offence.
"Really you should be guided by your gut. I think deep down you know that," Magistrate Dick told the woman during sentencing.
"You're going to be wrestling probably for the rest of your life with what you did back then."
Magistrate Dick told the woman, aged in her 30s, she would have "nothing to fear" if she did not offend again in the next three years.
He imposed no fine on the woman due to the "detrimental effect" it would have on the remaining children still in her care.
The court heard the woman had become pregnant with the victim as a teenager and had married her now estranged husband shortly after.
He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' jail in Bega Local Court on Tuesday, July 2, after pleading guilty to four counts of indecently assaulting the teen who was in his care at the time.
During submissions, police prosecutor Alice Pinkerton said a conviction should be recorded as the woman was aware her daughter had been sexually assaulted in the family home, and protected her husband for a further six months.
The woman's defence lawyer Ines Chiumento said her client had never even had a parking ticket and had been in "denial" about the abuse.
She said her client was of "good character" and had not known the full extent of her now estranged husband's offending.
"She made sure she put things in place so there was no further offending," Ms Chiumento said.
"The long story short is eventually things blew up."
Ms Chiumento said it was eventually her client's suggestion her daughter disclose the abuse to police.
She said her client's eventual guilty plea would give her "the finality she needs", and the destruction of her family had caused "great heartache" which was "some sort of punishment in itself".