A Sydney couple say they had sex with their nine-year-old son because they are a "touchy feely family" and it helped with his sexual education.
A 57-year-old man and his 48-year-old wife were charged in November 2009 with multiple offences relating to the repeated sexual assault of their son, who is now aged 10.
Authorities were alerted to the family after the nine-year-old propositioned a girl at his school for sex.
Police arrested the couple at their home in Sydney's south on November 16, 2009, and they have not seen their son since being taken into custody.
In Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday, the father pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse with his son, two counts of committing an indecent act, using the nine-year-old for child pornographic purposes, indecently assaulting his son, possessing child pornography and using the internet to offend.
The mother pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse with her son and two counts of committing an act of indecency.
On one occasion, while the boy lay in bed watching a DVD of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the woman performed a sex act on him while the man filmed it. The footage was later posted online.
"I understand that you think we are wrong but we think the human body is art and to be admired ..." the man told police during his early interviews.
The family are known nudists and the boy told police his father often "walked around in the nud when it's hot".
"The sexual assault side of it - I'm not quite sure what my son's getting at there, but we are, the three of us, very, very open-minded as we are nudists and our body, there is nothing hidden," the man told police.
"We are (a) very touchy feely family which we always have been ..."
The man also admitted performing sex acts on his son.
"Well, because he likes it, he wants it done," he said when asked by police why the acts had occurred.
"That's just us being a family, being very close ... as I say we are very open to that type of thing - but that's us.
"I mean the law says you can't but I mean - it's our way of educating our son - they are not getting any sexual education at school - he knows about sex already because we've sort of showed him, we've taught him, he knows what it's all about."
Both parents have been refused bail and an order is in place preventing them from having any contact with their son until he reaches adulthood.
The pair are due to face Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on June 4.
The woman will be involved in discussions about an apprehended violence order involving her son, enacted by prosecutors on his behalf, on June 11 at Central Local Court.
For legal reasons, none of the parties involved can be named.
Police had seized computer equipment from the family home as part of their investigations.
Among those items was a video recording of the co-accused engaged in sex acts in front of their son.
Since investigations began, another man has been criminally charged with offences relating to him viewing footage of the boy online.
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