UNITED KINGDOM – A care worker who sexually assaulted elderly patients and sent footage of the attacks to her boyfriend has had her jail term increased to 15 years.
Christina Sethi, 26, of Woodville Road, Torquay, Devon, was jailed at Plymouth Crown Court for 10 years in August.
But after a reference to the Court of Appeal, three senior judges have increased the term to 15 years.
Sethi admitted three counts of sexual assault and two of assault by penetration in July.
Lady Justice Hallett said 15 years was the absolute minimum Sethi should have been given for such serious offences.
Barrister Diana Heer, representing solicitor general Robert Buckland, argued that the sentence was too short because of the serious aggravating features of Sethi’s crimes.
Blind man
She had deliberately targeted her victims because of their vulnerability, all of them dementia patients unable to complain about the abuse.
The offences took place overnight when Sethi was working alone as the sole carer looking after the residents.
The victims included a woman in her 80s, a blind man in his late 70s and another woman who was more than 100 years old.
Despite their vulnerabilities, all three were aware something untoward was happening to them.
‘Burdened with guilt’
Sethi was caught when her boyfriend sold his laptop and the new owner found the files in the computer’s recycling bin.
But increasing the sentence, Lady Justice Hallett said the families of the victims had suffered too, “burdened with guilt” in having left their relatives in Sethi’s hands.
She said: “The families found it hard to comprehend that anyone could treat elderly people in this fashion.
Sethi, appearing via a video link from Eastwood Park Prison in Gloucestershire, spoke only to confirm her name and said ‘thank you’ after her term was increased.
The case was referred to the Court of Appeal by Mr Buckland, who said: “I asked the Court of Appeal to look at this 10 year sentence under the unduly lenient sentence scheme because multiple sexual offences were committed against three victims.
“The attacks themselves involved a degree of planning and premeditation and Sethi had no regard to the vulnerability of her victims who she should have being caring for.
“I hope the increase in the custodial sentence to 15 years offers a degree of reassurance to the families of the victims.” BBC
