Two brothers have been jailed for life for the murder of Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie, with a minimum non-parole period of 17-and-a-half years.
Wiremu Curtis, 19, and Michael Curtis, 22, were sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua on Wednesday.
Three-year-old Nia died of bleeding of the brain after being fatally assaulted by the Curtis brothers.
She died at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland in August 2007 after a prolonged period of abuse.
The girl's mother, Lisa Kuka, aged 35, was jailed 9 years for manslaughter for failing to seek medical help or protect her daughter from violence.
A cousin of Nia Glassie's, Michael Pearson, 20, was jailed for three years on a charge of willful ill-treatment.
A woman, Oriwa Kemp, 18, was jailed for three years and four months for willful ill-treatment.
Justice Potter told those convicted that their victim was defenceless and they had each tried to conceal their offending.
A lawyer for Wiremu Curtis, Craig Horsley, says there was little difference of opinion between his view and the Crown prosecutor's over the length of the minimum non-parole period.
He says Wiremu Curtis accepts responsibility for Nia Glassie's death and will have to live with that.
Throw away the key, says aunt
An aunt of Nia Glassie says the whole family believes that the five sentenced on Wednesday should spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Piki Rapana says she believes the whole country feels life sentences should mean life - and this is a case where the key should be thrown away.
"Throw the keys away - that's what they should do. Life for life. They killed a baby, no remorse - bugger them."
Improved system needed - Kiro
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said systems need to be put in place from the day babies are born so children like Nia Glassie don't fall through the cracks.
Dr Kiro said organisations that have contact with children need to share information, so they can assess whether early intervention is needed to make sure no child is lost.
A former head of the Women's Refuge is questioning what she says is an absence of Maori leadership on the issue of abuse of children.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said not much has improved since her days heading the Women's Refuge nearly seven years ago.
She said Maori women need to start looking more closely at who they bring into their homes.
