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17 september 2008

Dominatrix jailed for stealing from 'slave'

Source: www.news.com.au Australia

-Dominatrix fleeces 'slave' of inheritance money
-Gambled more than half of it away
-Jailed for two years and three months

A DOMINATRIX has been jailed for stealing nearly $300,000 from a disabled "slave" she met at a bondage centre.


Susan Shepherd fleeced Taran Whyte of her inheritance money and gambled it away on the pokies after befriending her at a bondage and fetish establishment in 1999, the Victorian County Court heard.
Shepherd, 50, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft and was jailed today for two years and three months.

The court previously heard the pair became friends after meeting at the Fitzroy centre in Melbourne.

Ms Whyte began working as a "slave" at the centre and moved in with Shepherd. When Ms Whyte's mother died in 2004, she received an inheritance of $483,000 and Shepherd gambled more than half of it away.

The court was told Shepherd bullied and intimidated Ms Whyte, who has an acquired brain injury, into letting her invest the money.

It heard Shepherd, a chronic gambler, stole $274,500 from her over 11 weeks and lost it to poker machines.

She denied to police that she had deceived Ms Whyte, showed no remorse and claimed she was entitled to spend the money, the court was told.

Judge Geoffrey Thomas Chettle said Shepherd's crimes were opportunistic and unsophisticated.

He said Ms Whyte was distressed at the breach of trust and the financial hardship the theft caused her. He ordered Shepherd repay her the money.

Judge Chettle accepted that Shepherd had had a difficult childhood, suffered from depression and had been a chronic gambler for more than a decade.

He said her rehabilitation prospects were good, noted that she had no prior convictions and was a model prisoner.

Shepherd must serve one year and three months before being eligible for parole. The sentence takes into account the 124 days she has spent in custody.