Mum’s boyfriend found guilty of killing Chinchilla toddler Kaydence Mills
A man has been found guilty of torturing and murdering a toddler, while the mother has been cleared of the same charges, which were laid following a massive search for the girl’s body in Chinchilla.
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Four years since the remains of missing Queensland toddler Kaydence Mills were found wrapped in garbage bags in an unmarked grave west of Toowoomba, the courts have found her 44-year-old stepfather guilty of the young girl’s murder and torture.
After a week-long judge-only trial throughout late July and early August, Justice Sean Cooper summoned Tane Desatge and the two-year-old’s mother Sinitta Dawita to return to Toowoomba Supreme Court on September 17 to hear his decision.
Desatge was found guilty of murder and torture, meanwhile Dawita was found not guilty of murder, torture and manslaughter.
At the beginning of the trial the pair each pleaded guilty to two counts of interfering with Kaydence’s corpse twice.
During the trial, the court was told that investigators believed Kaydence was murdered sometime between February and May 2017.
Her mother and Desatge then buried the little girl’s body at the Chinchilla Weir on an unknown in 2017 during a family camping trip.
Her body was located at the Chinchilla Weir in March 2020 after Desatge showed undercover investigators where the pair buried her.
In sentencing Ms Dawita, Justice Cooper said the 32-year-old Tully woman not only helped Desatge bury Kaydence under the guise of a camping trip, she also helped him cover up her death by telling a number of lies.
“Telling lies about where Kaydence was which can only been seen as you attempting to conceal the fact Kaydence had died,” he said.
“In considering whether you were liable as a party… for the murder or manslaughter of Kaydence, I concluded that it had not been proved to the relevant standard that you intended or implicitly agreed with Mr Desatge that Kaydence should be mistreated.”
He said he accepted there may have been other reasons at play leading to Ms Dawita’s silence, lies, and concealment.
“First, a fear of what Mr Desatge might have done if you revealed what had happened to Kaydence,” he said.
“Secondly, fear that child safety officers would remove the other children from your care.
“And thirdly shame, that you had not taken sufficient steps to protect Kaydence from (his) mistreatment while she was at the Chinchilla house or to send (her) away to a safer environment.”
Dawita received a head sentence of 18 months jail, however given she served an excess amount of time in presentence custody.
She will be released from prison on Monday, September 23, 2024, after spending 1661 days in custody.
Desatge will be sentenced on Thursday, September 19.
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