Woman jailed for five years after making child drink Dettol

A woman has been jailed for five years after inflicting a series of cruel punishments on a four-year-old boy including making him drink Dettol, tying him to a chair and placing him under a cold shower for 10 minutes.

The 32-year-old, who cannot be named because it could identify the boy, had three children of her own and was heavily pregnant with a fourth when the boy and his mother came to stay with her at her home at Doonside in Sydney's west in May 2014.

NSW District Court Judge Deborah Sweeney said the woman often disciplined her own children by making them stand in a corner for one minute for each year of their age before they apologised to her for what they had done.

However, when the four-year-old swore at her, calling her a "motherf---er", she did not use this punishment and instead tied him to a chair with his hands behind his back and put him under a cold shower for 10 minutes. She was helped by a 26-year-old man who lived in the home.

Judge Sweeney said the boy "struggled and cried" and called out "let me out, I want my mum".

Later, when the boy was said to give a "dirty look" to one of the woman's children, she had the 26-year-old bring her Dettol and a cup, which she made the four-year-old drink from. He vomited shortly afterwards.

After a further incident of perceived misbehaviour, the boy was placed on top of a two-metre-high freezer in the home's laundry and left there as a time out.

The woman later opened the laundry door, knocking the freezer, and the boy fell down and hit the back of his head, causing a 3-centimetre by 1.5-centimetre wound that was covered with a "thick scab" when later examined by a doctor.

Judge Sweeney said the woman "recklessly" caused the boy to fall rather than deliberately knocking him to the ground.

A victim impact statement detailed lasting effects on the boy, including having a fear of showers and a fear of getting his head wet for two years after the incidents. He was also anxious and worried that the woman would find him. The boy has been in foster care since May 2014.

The woman was found guilty of three charges following a judge-alone trial this year.

On Friday, Judge Sweeney jailed the woman for five years with a non-parole period of three years.

Judge Sweeney said the child was "struggling and crying, asking to be freed" when he was put under the shower for 10 minutes, which is "a long time for a four-year-old boy".

She said the conduct in each case went beyond a spur-of-the-moment punishment such as a smack.

"There was a cruelty in the offender's conduct against a vulnerable young boy," Judge Sweeney said.

She said the woman has no criminal history and the conduct appears to be "an aberration from her otherwise good character, although a serious aberration".

The man in the home who helped to carry out the punishments has also been jailed.

The woman will be eligible for parole in March 2023.