Tane Desatge sentenced for ‘inhumane’ murder of Chinchilla toddler Kaydence Mills

A man who neglected, starved, and tortured his new girlfriend’s toddler has been sentenced for her murder, after the missing girl’s remains were uncovered on the banks of a regional Queensland town’s water supply in 2020.

Four years since the remains of missing Queensland toddler Kaydence Mills were found wrapped in garbage bags in an unmarked grave at Chinchilla, the courts found her 44-year-old stepfather Tane Desatge guilty murder and torture.

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A regional Queensland man who “inhumanely” abused, neglected, and ostracised his partner’s child because he didn’t like the toddler,has been sentenced to a 22 yearjail term after being found guilty of her murder and torture.

Two-year-old Kaydence Hazel Mills was killed by her mother’s partner, Tane Desatge, 45, in 2017 shortly after the Tully family relocated from Far North Queensland to Chinchilla on the Western Downs - about three hours west of Brisbane.

Crown prosecutor Michael Lehane said Desatge starved and ostracised the little girl because he disliked her biological father.

The court was told the gambling alcoholic would violently beat the two-year-old with a bamboo stick which had a duct tape handle when she had accidents as an extreme form of toilet training.

Tane Desatge will be eligible to apply for parole on March, 2042.

The suspected murder weapon disappeared after Kaydence’s death - as did all her possessions.

The coward’s abuse reached a low, with the child left to sleep alone and unclothed in a toilet and forced to eat her waste as punishment.

On one occasion, Desatge threatened the child’s mother Sinitta Dawita at knifepoint to do the same.

Mr Lehane said the cruel, inhumane, and callous treatment escalated in the lead up to her “cold hearted murder”.

He said to call Desatge’s actions as “cowardly” was an extreme understatement.

When Kaydence was last seen alive

The father of 11 was in a domestically violent relationship with the girl’s mother, Sinitta Dawita, who he began dating in 2015.

The pair took care of Kaydence in September 2016 – about four months later she died on a couch, covered in bruises, with a week-old fracture to a rib.

Sinitta Dawita and Tane Desatge pleaded not guilty to the murder and torture of two-year-old girl Kaydence Mills at Toowoomba Supreme Court on September 22, 2024.

Two months before Kaydence’s death the family quietly relocated 1359km to Chinchilla, away from the girl’s and her mother’s family and friends.

At the time of the murder, Dawita was pregnant with her and Desatge’s second child.

Kaydence died of an unknown cause, possibly a severe blow to the lower back of her head, on an unknown date between February and May 2017, however no one knew she was missing until late 2019.

How the cover-up came undone

The Officer In Charge of Dalby’s Child Protection Unit Craig Ellis began looking for Kaydence in late 2019 after a flag from the Department of Education.

He sat in the gallery during the trial, along with other steadfast detectives.

An extensive two-month-long covert police operation led to Kaydence’s body being found in March 2020 after a few undercover officers got Desatge to flip on his story and take them to where she was buried.

On December 3, 2019, metres away from the Warrego Highway investigators cordoned off the little girl's home where they excavated a shed in the backyard and drained the water tank. Pictures: Peta McEachern

For longer than Kaydence was alive, she lay in an unmarked grave at the Chinchilla Weir, wrapped in large black garbage bags and a floral white bedsheet.

Soon after Desatge showed investigators where she was, he was arrested at Chinchilla KFC.

Those investigators expressed relief and gratitude, shaking hands, when Justice Sean Cooper handed down his guilty verdict on Monday, September 16.

Desatge and Dawita have been held in custody since their arrests in March 2020 – 1660 plus days.

Monster sentenced

Justice Cooper reserved his decision for about six weeks with the trial ending in early August 2024.

During the first days of March 2020, investigators began searching the banks of the Condamine River at the Chinchilla Weir, finding partial skeletal remains of Kaydence.

Dawita, 32, was acquitted of the murder and torture of Kaydence, who was her third-born child, however she was sentenced to an 18-month jail term for interfering with a body – which she pleaded guilty to alongside Desatge, at the start of the trial.

Dawita will be released from custody on Kaydence’s birthday, September 23, after spending four years and about nine months in custody.

Kaydence should be turning 10.

“Horrifying mistreatment”

Justice Cooper said given the depth of Desatge’s moral culpability and the “horrific mistreatment” that led to Kaydence's death called for a longer than usual sentence – extending the mandatory 20 year term by two years.

Justice Cooper said the only logical reason for Kaydence’s death were the blows Desatge caused to her face and head with the bamboo stick, which was evident in the extensive bruising to her face that included straight lined contusions.

Kaydence Mills should be turning 10.

He said the escalation of the abuse while Kaydence was being toilet trained was not the result of intoxication or an outburst of anger and noted he was well aware of her serious injuries and rather than seek help, left her to die.

Justice Cooper said Desatge showered no remorse and his bitterness towards Kaydence was evident even after death, noting the phone tap where he said, “they dying the c--t had a fit,” while investigators dug up his backyard looking for the girl.

Desatge was sentenced to life, 22 years, and will be eligible to apply for parole in March, 2042.

If released, he will remain on parole for the rest of his life.

Originally published as Tane Desatge sentenced for ‘inhumane’ murder of Chinchilla toddler Kaydence Mills