WAUPACA ? Waupaca County Circuit Judge Philip Kirk did not spare the rod or mince words in sentencing an elderly Clintonville woman to 16 years in prison Friday. ?You should be as reviled in death as you are disgraced in life,? Kirk said as he sentenced the 74-year-old woman to 16 years in prison on a charge of conspiracy to commit repeated sexual assault of a child. The defendant admitted to ?grooming? a girl in her care to have sex with a prison inmate upon his release in October 2004.

The incidents occurred between September 1998 and May 2003 while the inmate was in the Racine Correctional Institution.

The woman struck up the relationship with the man through her son, who also was an inmate.

The case came to light in May 2003, when prison officials monitored the inmate?s phone calls.

?This should have been the child?s ?sea shells and balloons? time,?? said Kirk, who also ordered her to spend 10 years on extended supervision after her release. ?Your behavior shocks my conscience.?

Kirk then graphically described what the woman did to the girl to prepare her for the inmate?s eventual release, which included forcing her to watch pornographic videos and to use adult sex toys.

And after those ?exercises,? said Kirk, ?she would put her face in a pillow and cry because it hurt so much.?

Kirk also noted the woman had put the girl on the phone with the inmate to discuss her progress and hear what he intended to do.

?I can?t comprehend the abject horror the child must have suffered,? he said. ?And that toy he promised her was not a stuffed rabbit.?

The sentence exceeded that sought by Dist. Atty. John Snider, who asked for 12 years of prison followed by 15 years of extended supervision.

Defense attorney Thomas Johnson said although the case is troubling, the woman was vulnerable and felt threatened by the inmate.

?There is nothing that I can say that will diminish the ugly nature of this case,? he said. ?There is no defense for her actions. She does not defend the action, but how long does it take to teach a 74-year-old woman that this conduct is intolerable? Beyond a couple of years, it is not productive and unnecessary.?

The inmate, Thomas Smith, 46, is facing charges of conspiracy to expose a child to harmful materials, child enticement and two counts of first-degree sexual assault.

He has entered not guilty pleas to the charges and further proceedings are scheduled for April 5.

Smith is now housed in the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, also known as Supermax, in Boscobel.

After the sentencing, Johnson said he will assist the woman in filing an appeal.