Erotic fiction author spared jail over book including toddler role play

Lead

An Australian author whose novel depicted adults engaging in toddler role-play has avoided jail after a judge ruled the work constituted child abuse material. Lauren Mastrosa, 34, of Quakers Hill in western Sydney, was sentenced on Tuesday in Blacktown Local Court to an 18-month community corrections order and was placed on the New South Wales Child Protection Register for eight years.

Coverage Comparison

Reporting from ABC Australia and The Guardian (World edition) largely aligns on the core facts of the case, though each outlet offers slightly different emphases. ABC's coverage focuses on the graphic and explicit nature of the novel's content, while The Guardian highlights Mastrosa's personal circumstances, including her diagnosis of thyroid cancer and multiple miscarriages, as well as the fallout she experienced after the book's content became public.

Both outlets describe the same sequence of events: Mastrosa wrote the novel, it was released briefly online in March 2025, she was charged with producing, possessing, and disseminating child abuse material, and she pleaded not guilty before being found guilty in February 2026. Both report the same sentence handed down by Judge Bree Chisholm.

Key Claims

• The novel's content: According to ABC Australia and The Guardian, Mastrosa wrote a novel titled Daddy's Little Toy under the pen name Tori Woods. The book details a consensual relationship between an 18-year-old female protagonist, Lucy, and Arthur, her father's 45-year-old friend. The novel includes passages where Lucy role-plays as a toddler, which both outlets report Judge Chisholm described as "explicit and graphic" and as having a "core purpose" of fetishising young children.
• Legal proceedings: Both sources report that Mastrosa was charged with producing, possessing, and disseminating child abuse material, and that she was found guilty in February. She was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order — a type of non-custodial sentence — and was required to register on the NSW Child Protection Register for eight years.
• Personal circumstances: The Guardian reports that Mastrosa wrote the book as an escape after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and having multiple miscarriages. The same outlet reports that she lost her job as a marketing executive for the Christian charity BaptistCare and received online death threats and vitriol. This information was not included in ABC's coverage.
• Mental health and treatment: The Guardian reports that Mastrosa was willing to undergo psychological treatment, having been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder since her arrest. This claim appears in only one of the two sources and has not been independently verified.

Perspectives

The prosecution's view: Judge Chisholm emphasised the need for general deterrence, stating that "the sexual exploitation of children even from such an unsuspecting defendant cannot be minimised." She described the case as "unusual" and noted that the law had recently been amended to broaden the definition of child abuse material.

The defence's view: Mastrosa's lawyer, Margaret Cunneen SC, argued that her client made a mistake and had not set out to write child abuse material. "She was planning to write an erotic book, she wasn't planning to write child abuse material," Cunneen told the court, adding that Mastrosa is "not a paedophile" and that there was no ongoing risk to the community since the books had been destroyed.

Mastrosa's personal circumstances: According to The Guardian, Mastrosa wrote the book during a difficult period in her life, including a thyroid cancer diagnosis and multiple miscarriages. She has reportedly lost her job and faced online abuse since the novel's content became public. This context was not included in ABC's report.