Charity worker appeals conviction over child abuse book

An author who penned a taboo novel containing sexualised content involving a teen pretending to be a toddler has launched a legal challenge against her conviction.

Lauren Ashley Mastrosa, 34, is a former marketing executive for a Christian charity who wrote Daddy's Little Toy under the pen name Tori Woods.

In April, she was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order for the book, which was released to a handful of earlier readers in March 2025.

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It was pulled from wider publication after a CrimeStoppers complaint led to her arrest.

The novel featured an 18-year-old woman named Lucy who role-plays as a toddler with Arthur, an older man who is her father's best friend.

After her sentence Mastrosa immediately filed an appeal of her sentence and conviction, which placed her on the Child Protection Register for eight years.

The details of her legal challenge were seen by AAP yesterday.

In April, Judge Bree Chisholm found the 34-year-old spent months writing highly sexualised content involving a young girl that spanned chapters of the book.

"General deterrence looms large and the sexual exploitation of children even from such an unsuspecting defendant cannot be minimised," the judge said at the time.

Earlier, high-profile criminal barrister Margaret Cunneen SC argued her client had simply made a mistake.

"She was planning to write an erotic book, she wasn't planning to write child abuse material," Cunneen told the court.

"She's not a pedophile, she's someone who wrote a book which offended against the law."

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Prosecutors pushed for a conviction, saying the book normalised child abuse material and fuelled the market of child exploitation.

In the novel, Arthur refers to Lucy as "baby girl" or "my little girl".

The teen is also described as engaging in child-like behaviour such as having tantrums, needing to be bathed, wearing nappies and playing with children's toys.

Mastrosa was found guilty of producing, possessing and distributing child abuse material.

Her appeal will come before Parramatta District Court next month.

The 34-year-old was stood down from her role as a marketing executive for Christian charity BaptistCare when the allegations came to light and her employment has since ended.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).