SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In August of 2014, Stephen Howells II and Nicole Vaisey abducted two Amish girls outside their family's vegetable stand.
"This was one of the nastiest cases I've ever seen; one of the most horrific examples of human conduct that I can recall," saidRichard Hartunian, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District.
The ensuing investigation revealed a series of crimes both before and after the abduction, crimes that the sentencing judge called unfathomable, committed by people he called every parent's nightmare. Thursday, he made it so Howells and Vaisey can never have access to children again, a comforting thought to law enforcement.
"There will be no more further victims from these two, and these two need to just be gone," St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells said. "The total number of years isn't significant to me as much as it's just the fact that it's a true life term."
In court, defense lawyers argued against life terms. Howell spoke and expressed remorse. Vaisey told the court she wasn't looking for leniency, but instead forgiveness. Her attorney argued that the case has a whole series of victims, Vaisey included.
"I'd hoped for something different," Vaisey's attorney, Bradford Riendeau, said. "Am I surprised? No. There were some things that happened inside that relationship that were pretty abhorrent."
The prosecution refuted those claims, saying Vaisey had numerous chances to reveal and stop her actions. The judge agreed and gave both the maximum sentence. It's a sentence that law enforcement hopes turns the page for all involved.
"We should never have to say their names again, of the perpetrators," Wells said. "We should only think about our victims from here going forward."
Howells and Vaisey are scheduled to be back in court next month, when they will be sentenced on kidnapping charges. Each one of those carries a possible sentence of 25 years that could put the two behind bars for a combined 900 years.