The author behind an offensive novel depicting toddler role-play has been spared jail for penning child abuse material.
Lauren Ashley Mastrosa, a 34-year-old former marketing executive for a Christian charity, wrote Daddy’s Little Toy under the pen name Tori Woods and published it through an online pre-release in March 2025.
The book, which was read by 21 advance readers, is about an 18-year-old woman named Lucy who role-plays as a toddler with Arthur, an older man who is her father’s best friend.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Mastrosa appeared for sentence at Blacktown Local Court in western Sydney after being found guilty of three child abuse material offences relating to the novel.
Judge Bree Chisholm convicted Mastrosa and imposed an 18-month community corrections order.
“I cannot justify a non-conviction ever being appropriate given the extent that the defendant wrote about sexual activity with such a young child,” she said.
While Mastrosa had seemed shocked at her arrest and co-operated fully with police, she had spent months writing highly sexualised content involving a young girl that spanned chapters of the book, Judge Chisholm found.
“General deterrence looms large and the sexual exploitation of children even from such an unsuspecting defendant cannot be minimised,” Chisholm said.
Lauren Ashley Mastrosa has avoided jail after being found guilty of child abuse material charges over her erotic novel. Credit: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Mastrosa gasped, closed her eyes and covered her mouth as the sentence was handed down and she was placed on the Child Protection Register for eight years.
She wore black and sat in the public gallery accompanied by her husband Adam during the hearing.
Earlier, high-profile criminal barrister Margaret Cunneen SC argued her client had simply made a mistake.
“She was planning to write an erotic book, she wasn’t planning to write child abuse material,” Cuneen told the court.
There was no ongoing risk to the community as the books, which were about fictional characters, had been destroyed, the barrister argued.
“She’s not a paedophile, she’s someone who wrote a book which offended against the law,” Cuneen said.
Mastrosa wrote the book as an escape after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and having multiple miscarriages, the court heard.
She lost her job as a marketing executive for Christian charity BaptistCare, had been exposed to online death threats and vitriol, and would never write anything like the book again, Cuneen said.
Mastrosa was willing to undergo ongoing psychological treatment after being diagnosed with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder since her arrest, the barrister added.
‘The matter’s an objectively serious one’
Crown prosecutor Milijana Masanovic pushed for a conviction.
“The book speaks for itself. The matter’s an objectively serious one,” she submitted.
The novel normalised child abuse material and fuelled the market of child exploitation, Masanovic said.
She acknowledged character references shown to the court that described Mastrosa as a kind, charitable woman.
“Sometimes good people can do bad things,” she said.
In February, Chisholm found the book sexually objectified 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,” she ruled at the time.
Mastrosa was found guilty of producing, possessing and distributing child abuse material.
She did not answer questions when departing court with her husband and her solicitor Michaela Mate stepping between her and reporters.
She can appeal the ruling.
The maximum penalty for producing, possessing or distributing child abuse material is 10 years’ imprisonment.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
