As the couple was sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison, the judge stated that the Hollywood star’s “deviance was shaped” by her partner.
A Hollywood actor has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a series of sex attacks on a teenage girl that began when the victim was 13 years old.
Zara Phythian and her husband Victor Marke were found guilty of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child last week after grooming and abusing the girl together between 2005 and 2008.
Marke was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Nottingham Crown Court after being found guilty of indecently assaulting a second complainant.
Phythian, who appeared in the 2016 blockbuster Doctor Strange and ran a martial arts academy, appeared calm in court on Monday as she was told the abuse was aggravated by its duration.
In passing sentence, Judge Mark Watson told the couple that he believed the abuse began on purpose.
Marke was told by the judge: “I consider you to be the driving force behind the abuse. You were obviously aware of the first incident, but pretended to be sleeping.
“This could only have been a pre-planned ruse.”
In response to Phythian, the judge stated: “While you denied in cross-examination that you were in love with Victor Marke, based on the evidence I’ve heard, I have no doubt that the influence he had on you from a young age shaped your deviance.
“I can’t ignore the fact that it began when you were still young.”
“Having said that, none of this excuses what you did – these were choices you made,” the judge added.
“You were already successful in your own right at the time.” You chose to take part.”
Phythian waved as she was led away to the cells, where a woman shouted, “I love you, Zara.”
The 37-year-old from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and Marke, 59, have been told that they must serve at least half of their sentences before being considered for parole.
The judge stated that Marke, who was convicted of four indecent assault charges relating to another underage girl he abused at least eight times between 2002 and 2003, demonstrated a “high level of depravity” during the offences.
Phythian denied being a child molester during her two-week trial, while her husband, a martial arts instructor, sobbed in the witness box.
The abuse of the couple’s joint victim, according to jurors, began when Phythian, then in her early twenties, asked her, “Do you want to play dare?” and invited her to mimic a sex act she had performed on Marke.
The victim, who asked not to be identified, testified in court that Marke threatened her and ordered her to film some of the abuse at the hands of the “Jekyll and Hyde” couple.
Phythian testified in court that she was given a chance to star in films after being “spotted” at a martial arts competition in the United States.
She told the jury she owns a production company, has her own sports clothing line, and met Marke when she was 19 years old.
Phythian’s film career peaked in 2016, the court heard, when she auditioned for and was cast as a “brunette zealot” in Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Marke, of Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, denied sexually touching one victim and claimed the other complainant gave him oral sex when he was drunk and she was 18.
