A NSW mother is facing the prospect of life behind bars after she filmed herself sexually and indecently assaulting her three young children and uploaded the videos to a child pornography website.
The woman, who cannot be named because it would identify her children, was represented by solicitor Donna Smith when she appeared in Newcastle Local Court via audio visual link from jail last week.
The woman pleaded guilty to 26 offences, including seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 years, a charge which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail.
The other charges include five counts of using a child under the age of 14 to make child abuse material, which carries a maximum of 14 years in jail, five counts of inciting an indecent act on a person under the of age of 16 and knowing it was being filmed and five counts of producing or disseminating child abuse material.
The matter was adjourned to Newcastle District Court this week where the woman will get a sentence date.
The mother was charged last year after an international hunt to identify an abused child captured on a paedophile website ended in the Hunter.
The case highlighted the reach of child abuse across the internet, and the stretch of law enforcement agencies in chasing down perpetrators.
The investigation began after US-based Interpol officers discovered the videos on a paedophile website that was being monitored.
They were able to identify her nationality because of an accent and contacted the Australian Federal Police.
The nationwide search was narrowed down before the girl was identified and the Newcastle office of the Child Abuse Squad arrested her mother. Police say they regularly conduct online operations targeting child abuse material.
"A large number of those people arrested and charged with child exploitation offences in NSW have been targeted after information was provided to the NSW Police Force by other agencies," a NSW police statement said.
"Likewise, offenders have been arrested and charged in other jurisdictions, including overseas, after being detected and identified by online covert operations run by the NSW Police Force.
"While the internet creates many opportunities for child predators to target children and connect with other offenders, it also presents opportunities for police to detect and target them."