WARNING: This story contains graphic content that may disturb some readers.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- A 33-year-old woman from Newfoundland was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison for abusing and torturing seven of her children during acts that were "unimaginable," a judge said Tuesday.

The woman is from the Conception Bay North area but her identity can't be revealed to protect the victims. She was convicted in May in Harbour Grace provincial court.

Court heard she repeatedly kicked, slapped and punched her children, locked some in their rooms until they soiled themselves and forced some to watch her and her husband engage in sex acts. She also encouraged some children to perform sex acts on each other, court heard.

On other occasions, while bathing some children in a tub, she would hold their heads under the water.

"At least one of the daughters thought she was going to die," provincial court Judge James Walsh wrote in a decision released Tuesday.

The woman also held some of the children upside down over a stairwell railing, Walsh said.

"While physical injuries were not incurred, the children suffered significant emotional and psychological impact from this event," he wrote.

"The facts of this case are appalling. They show an almost systematic pattern of torture of these young children. ... The acts committed by the accused fit into the category of unimaginable."

In a victim impact statement, the woman's 15-year-old daughter wrote: "I feel you are the worst mother ever ... I am not going to be like you and if I have kids I will not hurt them."

The Crown said that while the offences related to seven children, there were actually nine victims because the two youngest were removed from the home and subjected to protective intervention.

The woman was convicted of charges including criminal negligence causing bodily harm, corrupting the morals of children, assault, unlawful confinement, obstructing a peace officer and rendering children in need of protective intervention.

The woman's husband was convicted on eight charges including unlawful confinement. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.