A 35-year-old mother in the United States who has yet to obtain her citizenship feared she could be deported to Tonga after a jury found she was guilty of more than a dozen sex crimes involving her 6-year-old daughter.
Ricky D. Gordon, 55, and Rose I. Gordon, 35, were arrested in 2014 after they were accused of engaging in sexual behaviour with the little girl.
Rose’s husband Ricky was sentenced to 27 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in June 2015 to first-degree child rape and child molestation and possession of child pornography.
Rose will be sentenced in March and according to Washington law she is facing up to 26 years in prison.
Her attorney told media they will  appeal the conviction.
Reports said Snohomish County prosecuotors will likely lay more charges based on the multiple crimes  they found against the accused.
Washington’s Heraldnet report said: “The woman testified that she was abused by her husband, 57, and forced to engage in sexual contact with her daughter”.
But prosecutors said Rose did not reveal she was “a victim of domestic violence†during the investigation.
They said the first time she told them about it was when she realised  “that she was facing serious criminal charges”.
“The woman, who isn’t a U.S. citizen, was concerned that she would be sent back to Tonga if she didn’t cooperate with her husband’s demands”, jurors were told.
“The defendant saw her child, her 6-year-old daughter, as her plaything for her own sexual gratification,†Prosecutor Deschenes said in closing arguments.
The girl also was her “cash cow.â€
The couple will have to face the state’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board to make sure they are safe to be released, after they served their times.
