The author of a controversial novel, which delves into the disturbing theme of toddler role-play, has found herself emotionally shaken following her conviction. Although avoiding a prison sentence, she was found guilty of creating child abuse material.
Lauren Ashley Mastrosa, a 34-year-old who previously worked as a marketing executive for a Christian charity, wrote the provocative book titled Daddy’s Little Toy under the pseudonym Tori Woods. It was initially released online as a pre-publication in March of the previous year.
The novel, which reached the eyes of 21 early readers, centers around an 18-year-old character named Lucy. In the story, Lucy engages in toddler role-play with Arthur, a man significantly older than her and a close friend of her father.
Mastrosa faced judgment at Blacktown Local Court in western Sydney, where she was held accountable for three charges related to child abuse material stemming from the contents of her novel.
Judge Bree Chisholm, overseeing the case, convicted Mastrosa and sentenced her to an 18-month community corrections order. The judge expressed a firm stance, stating, “I cannot justify a non-conviction ever being appropriate given the extent that the defendant wrote about sexual activity with such a young child.”
“I cannot justify a non-conviction ever being appropriate given the extent that the defendant wrote about sexual activity with such a young child,” she said.
While Mastrosa had seemed shocked at her arrest and co-operated fully with police, she had spent months writing highly sexualised content involving a young girl that spanned chapters of the book, Judge Chisholm found.
“General deterrence looms large and the sexual exploitation of children even from such an unsuspecting defendant cannot be minimised.”
Mastrosa gasped, closed her eyes and covered her mouth as the sentence was handed down and she was placed on the Child Protection Register for eight years.
She wore black and sat in the public gallery accompanied by her husband Adam during the hearing.
Earlier, high-profile criminal barrister Margaret Cunneen SC argued her client had simply made a mistake.
“She was planning to write an erotic book, she wasn’t planning to write child abuse material,” Cuneen told the court.
There was no ongoing risk to the community as the books, which were about fictional characters, had been destroyed, the barrister argued.
“She’s not a paedophile, she’s someone who wrote a book which offended against the law.”
Mastrosa wrote the book as an escape after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and having multiple miscarriages, the court heard.
She lost her job as a marketing executive for Christian charity BaptistCare, had been exposed to online death threats and vitriol, and would never write anything like the book again, Cuneen said.
Mastrosa was willing to undergo ongoing psychological treatment after being diagnosed with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder since her arrest, the barrister added.
Crown prosecutor Milijana Masanovic pushed for a conviction.
“The book speaks for itself. The matter’s an objectively serious one,” she submitted.
The novel normalised child abuse material and fuelled the market of child exploitation, Masanovic said.
She acknowledged character references shown to the court that described Mastrosa as a kind, charitable woman.
“Sometimes good people can do bad things,” she said.
In February, Judge Chisholm found the book sexually objectified children.
“The reader is left with a description that creates the visual image in one’s mind of an adult male engaging in sexual activity with a young child,” she ruled at the time.
Mastrosa was found guilty of producing, possessing and distributing child abuse material.
She did not answer questions when departing court with her husband and her solicitor Michaela Mate stepping between her and reporters.
She can appeal the ruling.
The maximum penalty for producing, possessing or distributing child abuse material is 10 years’ imprisonment.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
