Edward Bagley initially faced 11 federal charges accusing him of enticing an underage girl to be his sex slave, torturing and mutilating her, and allowing others to watch and participate in the torture sessions. In January, he pleaded guilty to one count of using an interstate facility to entice a minor into illegal sexual conduct.
Bagley agreed to the 20-year prison sentence as part of his plea arrangement, a deal his victim says will spare her from having to relive her ordeal in public.
Prosecutors said Bagley, 46, and his wife, Marilyn, recruited the woman to live with them in their trailer in late 2002 and groomed her to become Bagley's sex slave. The Bagleys have insisted he didn't have sex with her until she turned 18 and that the often-extreme sex acts were consensual, but prosecutors believe it started years before that and was forced on the woman.
"I had no idea he was going to make it an every-single-night thing," the victim said in court as she gave her statement. "It started bad and got worse and worse."
As part of his sentence, Bagley also agreed to pay about USD 123,000 toward future counseling and medical care for the woman, who's now 27. Attorneys for Bagley declined to comment after his sentencing today.
The case came to light in early 2009 when the woman, then 23, was hospitalised after what prosecutors said was a torture session. Then-US Attorney Beth Phillips called the case one of "the most horrific ever prosecuted in this district."