Photo: Daily Mail
They burned her with a drug pipe and made her drink bleach.
By Emily Blackwood — Written on Sep 18, 2017
A 19-year-old girl in South Australia went to the house of Joshua Anthony Gent and Keira Jane Baker in June of 2016 to babysit the couple's daughter.
But when the parents returned home, instead of giving the babysitter payment for her services, they kidnapped and tortured her, sadistically beating her for 18 hours.
Though the victim survived, the trauma was so severe that she was unable to read her victim impact statement court where Gent and Baker pleaded guilty to aggravated charges of unlawful detention and causing serious harm with intent to kill.
According to police, after the couple came back home, they accused the victim of snitching to police about their friend's involvement in a car theft.
They called her a dog, tied her up with a dressing gown and gagged her with an onion before throwing her in their car.
They then drove the babysitter to another couple's house, Stacey Gaffney and Patrick Breen.
There, she was subjected to hours of abuse that included being tied to a dog leash, beaten, burned with a drug pipe, made to drink bleach, eat pet food, smoke methamphetamine, inhale butane gas and was even forced to clean up her own urine after she "wet herself out of fear."
She was detained in this bedroom.
Daily Mail
If that wasn't awful enough, police said the couple also filmed the abuse and led the victim to believe she was going to be raped and killed.
They had even told her where her body was going to be dumped.
The police also said the couples are facing an additional 10 years in prison for stealing $2,500 worth of the victim's items, including her phone, bank card, jewelry, makeup and laptop.
Her ordeal didn't end until her roommate's mother called the police, who eventually found her and Gaffney's 2-year-old son, who was also in another room in the house during the crime.
While they were holding the victim, the couples shopped, vacuumed, brought drugs and looked after their children. All of the offenders have criminal records, mostly involving drugs.
Detectives also found text messages and internet searches that said: "how to terrorise someone."
Gent even wore a skeleton outfit during the attack to frighten the girl.
The victim, who will remain unnamed, had her statement read in court on her behalf.
“I find it hard to do day to day activities (such as) going out to public places because I feel like I will see the offenders. The experience has left me with disturbed sleep, overwhelming fear and an inability to enjoy life in a normal way."
"I always replay in my mind what the offenders said to me, their expression of anger and hate towards me and the overwhelming fear I experienced.”
The victim spent several days in the hospital recovering and is considering moving away.
Emily Blackwood is an editor at YourTango who covers pop culture, true crime, dating, relationships and everything in between. Every Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. you can ask her any and all questions about self-love, dating, and relationships LIVE on YourTango’s Facebook page. You can follow her on Instagram (@blackw00d) and Twitter (@emztweetz).