Sentencing the two London parents, Judge Thomas Heeney told the court: “The facts of this case are the most egregious I have encountered in my 26 years on the bench.”

This came after an unidentified mother and father in their 50s were found guilty of a total of 33 offenses, including incest, sexual assault, unlawful isolation and invitation to sexual touching.

The victims were four of his own children, and the abuse began as early as 2002, when some were toddlers, and ended in 2020 when they were teenagers.

During a lengthy hearing last spring, the court heard horrific details of how the children were forced to have sex, beaten, tied up, imprisoned and punished with hot sauce.

“If they vomited after swallowing the Tabasco sauce and soap, they had to eat their own vomit,” Judge Heeney said.

For years, he continued, “To the outside world this family appeared to be a happy family, but behind closed doors it was a different story.”

“For these four victims, it was a house of horror; they had been subjected to years of ongoing sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of their parents.”

Judge Heeney said of the children: “They were subjected to pain, domination and humiliation; the treatment bordered on the sadistic.”

He said both parents were equally responsible, that he was convicted of 18 crimes and his father was convicted of 15 crimes. In the end, the judge sentenced the woman to a total of 17 years and 5 months in prison and him to 16 years and 241 days behind bars. .

He received enhanced credit for time served at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Center. The court was told Judge Heeney had suffered as he went through the judicial process, saying: “He was severely assaulted by other inmates on four occasions.”

The mother began to cry in the courtroom and hugged her lawyer as the sentences were announced, while the father showed little to no emotion.

After being taken into custody, the mother was heard applying for bail pending an appeal against her conviction.