Life in Prison for Man who Kidnapped Stepdaughter, Held Her Captive for 19 Years

(The AEGIS Alliance) – WAGONER COUNTY, OKLAHOMA – A man from Oklahoma who kidnapped his stepdaughter when she was a child and held her captive for close to 20 years and was convicted, has been sentenced to life in prison, according to prosecutors on Tuesday and NBC News.

Henri Michelle Piette was found guilty in June 2019 by a federal jury for kidnapping a juvenile who he traveled with and had the intent to engage in sexual acts with the minor. The trial lasted seven days and revealed details about the horrific conditions that were endured by Rosalynn McGinnis, NBC News previously reported.

Mr. Piette abused and raped McGinnis repeatedly, he also fathered nine children with her during an ordeal that lasted nearly two decades. It all started when Piette kidnapped her when she was only 12 years old in 1997.

Now in her 30’s, McGinnis managed to escape with a couple she befriended at a Mexico grocery store in 2016 and took eight of her nine children along with her.

On February 20, a judge sentenced Piette to life in prison for the conviction of kidnapping, and an additional 30-year sentence for the conviction of traveling with a juvenile while intending to engage in sexual acts with the minor girl, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Piette is not eligible for parole and it is a federal case.

Piette was also fined $50,000 in addition to his sentence, and also a restitution payment of $50,067 to his victim.

In 1997, Piette kidnapped the juvenile victim from her mother’s home where she lived in Poteau, Oklahoma. McGinnis’s mother was in a relationship with Piette at the time.

Henri Michelle Piette moved around the United States and Mexico dozens of times with his victim and the children before she managed to get away from him. Piette also went by various aliases and forced his victim to use aliases and had her alter her appearance.

Piette definitely qualified for life in prison which is used for the most serious offenders, U.S. Attorney Brian J. Kuester wrote in the statement released on Tuesday.

“For 20 years he inflicted extreme physical and emotional abuse on the victim and her children. For 20 years she feared for her and her children’s lives.”

“The victim’s courage ended the defendant’s reign of terror. Unfortunately, the horrific memories may very well last a lifetime. It is fitting that the defendant’s sentence will also,” Kuester said.

McGinnis gave testimony at Piette’s trial and has spoken out publicly about the case.

McGinnis gave an interview to NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri after Piette’s conviction and said, “I’m just so happy that he is put away where he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

According to KSHB, McGinnis and her family are now living in the Kansas City area and have a focus on living out their lives and moving on to leave the past behind them.

Video courtesy of NBC News:

Featured Image: Henri Michelle Piette (Credit: AP Photo/Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office)

Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.