A woman who says she was a "putrid junkie" when she helped her boyfriend feed his victim a drug-laced cheeseburger before he raped her has been granted immediate parole.
The woman, 23, who cannot be named, told the Newcastle District Court on Wednesday she had been an ice addict at the time of the rape and didn't realise what she had done until she went cold turkey in prison after her arrest.
"I couldn't get her face out of my head," the woman said of the victim who she also believed had been a putrid junkie.
She told the victim, who was listening remotely from another location, she had now been drug-free for 17 months and was "just so sorry" for what she had done.
"I'm sorry for everything. I wished I could have helped you," the woman said.
The woman, who pleaded guilty to charges including two counts of aggravated sexual assault in company inflicting actual bodily harm, said she had moved in with Douglas Dixon, a father of 11 with six women, when she was just 14 after leaving home and had been subjected to more than seven years of prolonged domestic violence.
Dixon, 32, has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault in company inflicting actual bodily harm and will be sentenced on October 5.
Judge Roy Ellis sentenced the woman to two years and nine months' jail, but said given the special circumstances of the case she would be released on parole - having spent nine and a half months in custody.
Judge Ellis said Dixon was the driving force behind the offending and the girlfriend had been in such fear of him she had only gone along with what he did because she was worried the violence could have escalated even further.
He said Dixon was 23 when he started the violent, controlling relationship with the then 14-year-old girl and had been her mother's drug dealer.
The judge said psychological reports painted a "terrifying picture" of a child who was sexually, physically and mentally abused by Dixon on a daily basis for more than seven years.
He said the woman's drug addict mother even encouraged the girl's relationship so she could get drugs from Dixon on credit.
"He was, quote, 'the biggest name in town' from a criminal perspective," Judge Ellis said.
The judge said the woman remained fearful of Dixon, describing him as a "monster".
Dixon had dragged his victim, 28, out of her home at about 8pm on April 13, 2020. She had failed to pay a $750 drug debt while waiting for a Centrelink payment.
When they arrived at Dixon's Telarah unit, his girlfriend was inside.
The victim said at one stage during the night she was given a cheeseburger which tasted funny. When she began eating the burger, Dixon's girlfriend laughed.
The victim became drowsy before passing out on the lounge. When she woke up, Dixon repeatedly punched her in the head and ribs, and hit her with a baseball bat.
Dixon then threw the woman on to a bed and began raping her as his girlfriend was lying naked next to them after being told to strip by Dixon.
At one stage, the woman held the victim's arms down and told her, "Let him do it. He does it to me every day."
The victim was also ordered by Dixon to perform oral sex on the girlfriend during her ordeal.
Dixon told the victim he planned to keep her hostage for seven days before she passed out.
After Dixon and his girlfriend later left the apartment, the victim woke up the next morning to find she couldn't open the bedroom door as it had been tied shut from the outside. She managed to open a window and call out to neighbours for help who called the police.
Australian Associated Press
