A Whangarei mother's appeal that her five-year sentence for sexually abusing a boy was excessive by at least one year has been rejected by the High Court.
Amanda Campbell was sentenced in the Whangarei District Court in May after she was found guilty after a judge-alone trial to one charge of sexual connection with a young person between the ages of 12 and 16, one charge of permitting a house and another of permitting a vehicle to be used to smoke cannabis.
Campbell had sex 10 times with the boy, who was aged between 12 and 16, and also supplied him with a cannabis bong and a cellphone.
Her lawyer Catherine Cull appealed the sentence on the grounds Judge Duncan Harvey adopted an excessive starting point of five and a half years and gave inadequate discount for her prior good character.
Judge Harvey said Campbell's grooming of the boy and other aggravating features justified that starting point.