Man held stepdaughter captive for 20 years, raping her and fathering nine children
A man who abducted his 12-year-old stepdaughter, held her captive for almost two decades and fathered nine children with her has been convicted.
US man Henri Piette, 63, was arrested in Mexico after Rosalynn Michelle McGinnis fled the country and reported her story to the FBI.
Ms McGinnis, was 33 when she approached the FBI in 2016, telling them Piette had starting raping her at their home in Wagoner, Oklahoma, at aged 11.
The stepdad also allegedly forced the child when 11 to “marry” him in a ceremony performed by Piette’s eldest son, who was 15 at the time.
Ms McGinnis said her mother tried to take her children and leave Piette after he allegedly beat her, but he tracked them down, Oklahoma’s KFOR news reported.
She told authorities she was held against her will for the next 19 years, while being beaten and sexually assaulted almost every day.
While still in Mexico, she was finally able to escape with eight of her nine children in June 2016 and obtained passports for them to flee to the US.
Piette was caught in Mexico in September 2017 when he tried to enter the US.
He was arrested and extradited to Oklahoma to face charges for rape, lewd molestation and physical abuse of a child, according to KFOR news.
He was convicted on June 6, found guilty in a US District Court of kidnapping and travelling with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile. He faces life in prison.
“The victim endured two decades of horrific abuse by the defendant,” prosecutor Brian Kuester told the court, according to the news outlet.
“Her courage led her to escape and rescue her children and allowed investigators and prosecutors to seek justice on her behalf. Ultimately, her courage ended the defendant’s reign of terror.”
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