A man who played video games while his partner tortured their young daughter has been jailed, drawing to a close a horrific tale of abuse and violence.

In Auckland District Court yesterday the 32-year-old father was sentenced to three years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of two years for the part he played in the abuse of his nine-year-old daughter.

In December the girl's mother, who had earlier pleaded guilty to 25 child abuse charges, was sentenced to seven and a half years' jail, with a non-parole period of five years.

It's understood she plans to appeal her sentence.

The young girl's plight came to national attention when police found her hiding in a cupboard in her West Auckland house on November 15, 2010.

She was starving, dehydrated, bruised and was suffering from broken bones and anaemia from internal bleeding.

A police statement released a month later made public the horrific details of her abuse - including prolonged beatings and having her toe nails ripped off.

The girl had been in Child, Youth and Family (CYF) care most of her life after being taken away from her parents as a baby.

She returned to live with her parents in 2008 after being sexually abused while in the care of an extended family member.

In November the man, who has been granted name suppression to protect his daughter's identity, pleaded guilty to two representative charges - one of assault, which included smacking, slapping and kneeing his daughter, and one of wilfully allowing her to be ill-treated and failing to seek medical treatment.

Yesterday Judge Brooke Gibson said the abuse started ''almost immediately'' after the girl came to live with her parents, and while the man had not meted out the most violence, he equally had not done anything to intervene.

"You stood by and allowed those and many other injuries to be inflicted,'' Judge Gibson said.

''You failed to prevent your partner's wickedness and you failed your other children.''

The father also hit the child in a way that was ''unacceptable'' and deliberately concealed the situation from the child's school by keeping her at home when her injuries would have made it obvious that she was being physically abused.

Before Judge Gibson delivered his sentence, lawyer Brenda Donald said her client had tried to stop his partner from abusing the young girl but had become ''the meat in a sandwich, in a way''.

She said he was caught between trying to control his daughter's ''disturbing behaviour'' and getting through to his partner.

''It was a really bad time for him - things got out of hand,'' she said.

The man rang an Auckland radio station before the sentencing and said he "regretted'' what had happened.

"I feel sorry for the children who had to be put in such a difficult position,'' he said.

Donald said her client was pleased that as a result of this case, CYF had put measures in place that would hopefully mean the same thing didn't happen to another child or family.

Judge Gibson responded by saying that the girl had been subjected to ''the most appalling revictimisation'' due to the couple's contention that the abuse was a result of her ''difficult'' behaviour.

''You continued to blame the child for what happened to her and I utterly reject that,'' he said.

In sentencing the man, Judge Gibson said he wanted to denounce his conduct, deter others, hold the man accountable, protect the community and send a clear message to people who stood by and did nothing to intervene.

''It is clear that your daughter is unable to understand why she was tortured, and that is the appropriate word for it.

''You didn't do your duty as a parent.''

Sensible Sentencing Trust's Garth McVicar said the judge had ''virtually sanctioned'' child abuse by handing down such a ''pathetic sentence'' and called on him to add his name to the 25 agencies that had ''contributed'' to the tragedy.

''No wonder New Zealand has such a high incidence of domestic violence and child abuse,'' McVicar said.

''This judge had an opportunity to send a loud, clear message, 15 years at least, that New Zealand will not tolerate this type of offending but failed to do so.

''The Government can [commission] as many reports as it likes but until judges are held to account for the disastrous consequences of their actions nothing will change.''

In court, Crown prosecutor Lorraine McDonald rejected the man's contention that he wasn't at the house very often.

''Several witnesses say he was there during the beatings,'' she said.

''[He] appears to have been playing Xbox in one of the rooms of the house during some of the beatings.''

She said the man had made a conscious decision to do nothing and therefore this was ''precisely'' the sort of case that the courts could use to demonstrate that it took a failure to act ''as very serious indeed''.

The man's lawyer said she was not yet sure if her client would appeal his sentence.

The couple initially faced 36 charges between them relating to the abuse of their nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son.

CYF operations manager Marama Edwards said yesterday that the girl and her siblings were ''safe and well in CYF care''.

''We are closely involved with them all and are ensuring they have the support they need.

''This has been a terrible ordeal for all the children and I hope today's sentencing provides some closure.

''Considering what they have been through, they are doing very well.''