A former contestant on My Kitchen Rules has pleaded guilty to cruelty to children, with rape and other historical abuse charged dropped.
Claudean Uamaki-Mu pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to children under 16 on Monday morning.
She had been facing other charges, including 12 counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and assaults occasioning bodily harm, but they were dropped.
Her partner Anthony Mu had been charged with several offences, but was found not guilty earlier this year.
A suppression order had initially been in place, protecting the pair’s identities, at the start of the legal proceedings, but it was lifted last year.
Uamaki-Mu and Mu appeared on Channel Seven’s My Kitchen Rules in 2023.
The pair were promoted as a ‘fiery Italian and a super-chill Samoan with hearts of gold’.
One complainant read her victim impact statement to the court.
Claudean Uamaki-Mu (left) pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to children under 16 on Monday morning
Uamaki-Mu and Mu appeared on Channel Seven’s My Kitchen Rules in 2023
‘Once I was in consistent therapy, I was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder … the symptoms of my diagnosis prevent me from working,’ she said.
‘This is because every day of my life I experience flashbacks and intrusive memories of the harm that occurred.
‘I live in a constant state of always feeling on edge and watching for danger.’
Chief Judge Brian Devereaux described the offending as criminal.
‘What’s appalling is that you treated them the way you did. It’s criminal,’ he said during sentencing.
Uamaki-Mu’s barrister Simon Lewis said his client did not present a danger to the community.
He told the court she had worked as a carer for disadvantaged children, school chaplain, and volunteer chaplain at Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre.
Uamaki-Mu was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, to be released immediately on parole.
Following Uamaki-Mu’s sentencing, her partner told reporters outside court it was ‘all lies and bulls***’.
more to come
