SYRACUSE, New York (AP) – A man and a woman who kidnapped and sexually abused two Amish girls in northern New York last year were sentenced Thursday to lifetime federal prison terms.
Nicole Vaisey and her boyfriend, Stephen Howells, admitted in state and federal courts that they kidnapped the two girls and sexually exploited six children altogether. Victims were drugged and recorded during sex acts, authorities said.
Judge Glenn Suddaby sentenced both to the maximum possible terms, which prosecutors recommended – 580 years for Howells on 21 charges and 300 years for Vaisey on 10 counts.
Howells, 40, told the judge that he took advantage of the inexperienced Vaisey and “twisted her around” for his own sexual gratification, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. “The evil that I’ve done is my own,” he said.
Prosecutors say the abuse ended after the couple were arrested in the kidnapping of the two young Amish girls from a farm stand in August 2014. The girls were released a day later.