WINDSOR — A mother who repeatedly sexually abused her two-year-old son and broadcast the images over a webcam was sentenced Friday to 3 1/2 years in prison followed by three years on probation.

But the 24-year-old woman, who can't be named to protect the identity of her child, will likely spend an additional six to eight months in jail after getting the usual two-for-one credit for the nine months she spent in pre-sentence custody, said her lawyer, Robert DiPietro.

"The conduct you engaged in here is so appalling the court has to address the principles of denunciation and deterrence," said Justice Guy DeMarco.

"You pose a continuing danger to society and particularly children. Society expects the mother of a toddler would do everything in her power to make sure her child is protected from harm . . . Not only did you not protect your child, you preyed on that child."

DeMarco rejected a joint submission from DiPietro and assistant Crown attorney Shelley McGuire which would have seen the woman sentenced to a total of two years less a day in jail. Under that scenario, she would have been deemed to have already served 18 months of that sentence, and would have been eligible for release almost immediately.

Instead, DeMarco said her sentence should be two years less a day in addition to the 18 months' credit she gets for time already served.

The woman pleaded guilty to sexual assault, making child pornography and possessing child pornography earlier this week. Ontario Provincial Police officers arrested her last year after a Windsor man approached police about a woman who was performing live sex acts over the Internet.

The webcasts were disturbing in the extreme: some directly involved the toddler, while in others the child was only watching. One particularly disturbing video had the woman engaging in acts of bestiality in her son's presence.

The man who reported her activities to police was asked by the woman to go to a local park and describe for her over a cellphone the children he saw there, court was told. "We could have our way with her," she said, encouraging him to abduct one of the little girls he described.

Court heard the woman suffers from psychiatric disorders that were undiagnosed at the time of her offences. DiPietro said that, while the woman suffered physical abuse as a child and watched her biker father beat her mother, there is no indication she was ever sexually abused.

A psychiatric assessment showed she was mentally fit to stand trial and could be held criminally responsible for her actions. DiPietro said the woman needs counselling.

"She has a very disturbed set of thoughts about sexual activity."

He called the case one of the saddest he has ever seen.

"I hope this child doesn't have a recollection of these things and goes on to be a healthy young boy and healthy man."

Court heard the boy is in foster care and has blossomed in the nine months since he was apprehended by the Children's Aid Society.

As a condition of her sentence, she is prohibited for life from parks, schools, community centres or any other places where children are found. She can't ever get a job or volunteer in any capacity that involves being in a position of trust or authority over children.

She will be on the national sex offender registry for 20 years, during which time she must provide her address and other contact information to police. She must provide a blood sample for the police DNA databank. When she is released from prison, she will be on probation for three years — the maximum duration allowed by law.

During probation, she has to be under the care of a psychiatrist and must attend psycho-sexual counselling and any other counselling suggested by her probation officer.

"Do you understand?" DeMarco asked the obese woman, clad in a wrinkled purple sweatsuit. "Yes," she responded in a soft voice.

DeMarco said that, in considering his sentence, he reviewed a Jan. 18 Ontario Court of Appeal case in which a father who abused his young daughter and sent the images out over the Internet was sentenced to seven years in a federal penitentiary. The man, who originally was sentenced to four years in prison and, with time served, was already free on probation, was put back in jail to serve the balance of the new sentence.

DeMarco said he considered the woman's youth, the fact she pleaded guilty and had no prior criminal as mitigating factors in the case. He also noted that the distribution of the images of her abusing her child was limited.

By Sarah Sacheli, The Windsor Star