South Carolina — A man who admitted to kidnapping a 14-year-old girl and holding her for more than a week in an underground bunker, raping her daily, was sentenced Wednesday to 421 years in prison for a crime the judge called "repulsive."
Vinson Filyaw pleaded guilty Tuesday in Beaufort, moments before his trial, to charges of kidnapping and 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct, one for each day prosecutors said he held the girl captive a year ago in Kershaw County.
The teen was rescued after she got hold of Filyaw's cell phone and sent a text message to her mother.
"I have a strong belief you have forfeited your right to be a member of this society," Judge G. Thomas Cooper said before handing down the sentence. "I can think of no crimes short of murder more repulsive than these."
After the hearing, the girl, now 15, said she was happy with the sentence, the maximum allowed. She explained how she survived in the bunker: "Hope," she said, and constantly thinking about "my family; my friends."
Comments
Confrontation 9 years, 10 months ago
I'm glad this didn't happen here and it wasn't up to Judge Paula Martin. She would have given him no time and would have blamed the girl since she played an "active role" in her own rape.
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