Doctor Strange actress Zara Phythian receives 8 years for child sexual abuse

She is serving at least four years.

Doctor Strange actress Zara Phythian has been sentenced to eight years in jail for a string of sexual abuse charges on a teenage girl. Pythian and her husband Victor Marke were found guilty last week of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child after they both groomed and abused the girl from 2005 to 2008, starting when the girl was 13 years old. Marke was also found guilty of indecently assaulting a second complainant and given a 14-year sentence at Nottingham Crown Court. Phythian appeared in the 2016 film Doctor Strange and ran a martial arts academy. When giving the sentence, Judge Mark Watson said that he believed the couple had pre-planned the abuse at the beginning. According to PA, the judge told Marke: “I regard you as the driving force behind the abuse. You were clearly aware of the first incident but pretended to be asleep. “This could only have been a ruse agreed in advance.” Addressing Phythian, the judge added: “Whilst you denied in cross-examination that you were besotted with Victor Marke, on the evidence I have heard I am in no doubt that your deviance was shaped by the influence that he had upon you from an early age." The judge added that while Phythian was also young at the time, it did not excuse either of their behaviour. The 37 year old and her 59 year old husband were told they would serve at least half of their sentences before being considered for parole. The judge noted that Marke was also found guilty of four indecent assault charges relating to another under-age girl who he abused at least eight times between 2002 and 2003 and had shown a "high level of depravity” during the offences.