Warning: This article contains information about child abuse, which may be distressing for some readers.
A mother who murdered her toddler in central-western NSW has wept as her sister read out an enraged victim impact statement in a Sydney court.
Three-year-old Joseph’s mother and stepfather, who can’t be named for legal reasons, were found guilty in April of murdering him at Oberon, near Bathurst, in August 2014.
Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC said the couple inflicted “gratuitous violence” on the “defenceless” boy during the seven weeks he was in their care after having lived with his grandmother since he was three-months-old.

"The victim's death must have been terrifying, prolonged and horrific," she told the NSW Supreme Court at the couple's sentencing hearing.
Joseph's aunt said the way her sister and brother-in-law treated the child "is beyond forgiveness".
"The moment she allowed another man to raise his hand to you... she stopped being my sister.
"She stopped being your mother and it was the moment I decided she was dead to me."
Oberon: "Beyond forgiveness" is how an aunt described the torturous murder of her 3-year-old nephew. @ebatten7 #7News pic.twitter.com/FYPG8Fwa9a
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) August 11, 2017
Sitting in the dock with her husband, the mother wiped tears from her face as her sister recalled loving and playful times at home with Joseph.
Top Comments
It will only stop when they start putting the rights of the child above the parent. The right of the INNOCENT above the parent. She should not have even had access for this to occur. It's because our laws put children on the very bottom of the list. If someone is found guilty of neglect for animals- does the animal go back into their care for a second chance? Nope but a child does. It's our system that is so so broken. But it just needs for them to put the child first then it can start to mend. I can't understand why we can't demand this of our laws?
So who in the hell decided that this little boy was better in the care of these two animals instead of his grandmother ?