Wellington - A babysitter who admitted torturing and murdering a 10-month-old girl was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison, news reports said.

Tiana Mary-Anne Odesa Kapea, 30, who was described as a trusted family friend, admitted in the Auckland High Court to swinging the infant by her hair, hanging her in a wardrobe and on a clothesline, and putting her into a freezer several times over a period of six weeks.

The child, named Jyniah Te Awa, died in September 2007 after being kicked, thrown against a wall, shaken and smothered.

"Our baby would be brought home with lollies and bumps and bruises, and every time we'd ask what happened, we'd be given excuses," mother Lisa Cassidy told the court.

In sentencing Kapea, the judge said she had a personality disorder but the reason for her cruelty and killing the baby might never be known.

The sentence bars the possibility of parole for at least 17 years. (dpa)