Lauren Mastrosa wrote a sexually explicit book about an 18-year-old woman who role-plays as a toddler for an older man. Photo / Supplied
Lauren Mastrosa wrote a sexually explicit book about an 18-year-old woman who role-plays as a toddler for an older man. Photo / Supplied
A Christian charity executive has been found guilty of producing child abuse material after she wrote an erotic toddler role-playing novel.
Lauren Mastrosa, from Australia, could face jail after publishing the “undeniably offensive” Daddy’s Little Toy under the pen name of Tori Woods in an online pre-release to 21 readersin March.
The 210-page novel is about an 18-year-old woman named Lucy who works in a toy shop and pretends to behave as a toddler with an older man.
The front cover is coloured pastel pink and the title letters styled in children’s alphabet blocks. It includes trigger warnings such as “age gap” “daddy kink”, “infantilisation” and “sexually explicit scenes”.
Lucy is described as engaging in child-like behaviour such as having tantrums, needing to be bathed, wearing nappies and playing with children’s toys.
Mastrosa, 34 – who went by the pen names Tori Woods and Lauren Ashley – moonlighted as an erotic novelist while working as a marketing executive for BaptistCare, one of Australia’s largest faith-based care charities.
She was forced to step down from her role in March when a complaint about the book’s content was filed to police through Crime Stoppers.
A police raid on her home in the suburb of Quakers Hill, western Sydney, uncovered 16 print copies of the book.
On Monday, Mastrosa was found guilty at Blacktown Local Court of possessing, disseminating and producing child abuse material. She has no previous charges.
She sat with her husband inside the packed courtroom and was impassive as the judgment was handed down by Magistrate Bree Chisholm.
Chisholm said: “The defendant has written a book that sexually objectifies 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.”
‘Undeniably offensive’
A reasonable reader would find the work “undeniably offensive”, she added.
She told the court that she had read the entire work and concluded that Lucy was implied to be a child despite repeated references to her being 18.
In the novel, Arthur, a 45-year-old character, refers to Lucy as “baby girl” or “my little girl”. She is also described using childlike language such as “wee wee”.
The novel drew a complaint about its content to police through Crime Stoppers. Photo / Supplied
Chisholm said: “Importantly, those descriptions and language are used in the portions of the book to describe a character similar to a young child when the sexual activity is occurring. The language is repeated again and again.”
In recorded police interviews played to the court, Mastrosa, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, vehemently rejected claims that the book contained child abuse.
“Hell no, that’s not it. This is not something that I want out there if it is incriminating unintentionally,” she said.
Author said it was a ‘huge misunderstanding’
In a statement from her Instagram account, which has since been disabled, Mastrosa had described the situation as a “huge misunderstanding”.
“DLT [Daddy’s Little Toy] is definitely not promoting or inciting anything ever to do with [child sexual abuse] or paedophilia,” it said. “What is being said is grossly disturbing and breaks my heart as well as makes me sick.”
The court heard that police officers had not read the novel when they arrested Mastrosa.
Earlier in the trial, Margaret Cunneen SC, representing Mastrosa, questioned police suggestions that the novel contained child abuse material at all.
Senior Constable Liam Matson, giving evidence during the trial, said the book contained parts depicting offensive content with someone implied to be a child.
He told the court: “It sounds like he wants a 3-year-old to me. There is sexual stuff in the book that starts when she is 3.”
Cunneen asked the officer: “Do you know anything about the area of sexual fantasy which is called daddy dom little girl?”
Mastrosa was released on bail and will be sentenced on April 28.
The maximum penalty for the production of child pornography in Australia is 14 years in prison.
A spokesman for BaptistCare said at the time of Mastrosa’s arrest that it could not comment on the circumstances of individuals. They did confirm that an employee was “stood down effective March 20” while an internal investigation was undertaken.
“BaptistCare takes matters of ethical conduct seriously. Our focus remains on upholding the values and integrity of our organisation.”
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