Katie Baskerville of Cawdor pleads guilty to assaulting 13-year-old

The vicious assault that led to a 13-year-old being treated at Campbelltown Hospital was captured on an audio recording. Read what happened in court.

A Cawdor woman who punched a 13-year-old girl in a physical onslaught that was captured in an audio recording has pleaded guilty to the vicious assault.

Katie Baskerville, 33, did not appear in Picton Court on Wednesday, but it was heard that she had changed her plea of not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm to guilty.

After this, the police prosecutor then withdrew two charges of installing a listening device to record conversations without consent.

Court documents show Baskerville was contacted by a friend who was concerned about her daughter’s internet history which showed the 13-year-old had viewed pornography.

The mother was also worried she was speaking with older men, so asked Baskerville if she could look after the victim for a short period of time and speak with her about what she was doing.

Court documents state that on September 15, Baskerville picked the victim up and took her to her home. Later that day, the mother called Baskerville who said “nothing is wrong with [the 13-year-old] it’s just normal child stuff she’s just exploring sex”.

Baskerville then asked the mother if she could install a spy app on the 13-year-old’s phone, which she was in possession of, to monitor what was happening and the mum agreed. Later that night, the mother followed up again a few times but had no response from Baskerville.

Picton Courthouse. Picture: Adelaide Lang

The court documents reveal, Baskerville had asked the victim to come see her and secretly recorded her, with the mother’s permission.

The victim is heard to speak quietly and calmly and at times appears scared and the total of five recordings go for two hours.

The documents said the victim made a number of disclosures regarding sexual activity she had engaged in, and Baskerville asked her if she had ever touched a boy.

The documents further state that the victim was crying and Baskerville screams at her saying she had put a finger in a boy’s bum and the victim answered with several different responses.

While driving the victim home, Baskerville becomes erratic and pulled over before punching the victim at least 20 times in the head.

According to the court documents, after arriving at the house, the mother asked what happened and Baskerville said “I recorded everything … I pulled over in the car and yelled at her why did you do it, why did you do it you filthy child molester”.

The victim later told her mother she had not done anything but agreed because she was scared. The victim was taken to hospital and treated for injuries to her face.

The court documents said the police seized the recordings and the assault had been captured on audio.

In court on Wednesday, it was heard Baskerville’s lawyer Jimil Amiri would be seeking a Section 14 application which allows a person who is charged with a criminal offence and suffers from a mental health or cognitive impairment to avoid a criminal record.

The magistrate adjourned the matter to June 29 to allow for the defence to gather the necessary material to make the application.

The teenager is protected by an apprehended violence order which prohibits Ms Baskerville from coming close to her home or school.