A mother, a former nurse and an Islamic sect community leader have been sentenced to a minimum 11 months in jail after being convicted of female genital mutilation offences against two young sisters.
But none of them may spend a day behind bars.
NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Johnson has referred the three to be assessed for home detention.
Despite the offences being found to be serious, Justice Johnson said the girls, who were aged seven when the procedures were performed, would suffer "significant hardship" if their mother, referred to as A2, was sent to jail.
"She is generally a caring mother for her children," he said during a sentence hearing on Friday.
"A sentencing outcome which would see these children, who are victims of these offences, being punished in a practical way, would not serve the interests of justice in this case."
It's the second female genital mutilation case to go before NSW courts.
Charges were laid after the girls were interviewed by a female police officer and social worker, without their parents' knowledge.
The elder sister was spoken to on August 29, 2012 and said she had in 2009 been subjected to "khatna", which involved "a little cut ... in your private part".
"After the procedure was carried out on (the girl), she was told by her mother not to discuss it with anyone," Justice Johnson said.
Her younger sister, who the court heard has an intellectual disability, described a similar procedure at her parent's Sydney home earlier in 2012.
"(She) was asked to lie on a bed and she was naked from the waist down," Justice Johnson said.
Former midwife and nurse Kubra Magennis, 72, cut both girl's genitals with what the older sister described as "like a silver tool-ish thing" which "looked a bit like a scissor".
The day after the girls were interviewed, senior Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community leader Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri phoned Magennis.
In a series of discussions with other community members, Vaziri concocted a story to try to stop police investigating the allegations.
"He assisted A2 and Kubra Magennis by encouraging them, potential witnesses and other members of the Dawoodi Bohra community to lie to police, or to not disclose relevant information," Justice Johnson said.
"He gave that assistance so that A2 and Kubra Magennis could escape arrest, trial or punishment for their offences."
Vaziri was found guilty of acting as an accessory after the fact of the female genital mutilation.
The mother, 39, and Magennis were found guilty of mutilating the clitoris of each girl.
All have been given minimum 11-month terms, but may never go to prison.
They are on bail and will return to court on April 22 to learn whether they will serve their time in jail or via home detention.
