Elizabeth Smart is to speak today at her abductor’s sentencing as sexual predator Brian David Mitchell is set to be sentenced at a federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah, reports The AP.
Mitchell potentially faces a life sentence after he was found guilty in December for kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of illegal sex.
Mitchell kidnapped Smart, who was 14 at the time, at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City bedroom in 2002 and subjected her to months of rape and abuse.
The kidnapping preceded nine horrific months of assaults by Mitchell, who would rape the girl numerous times during any given day.
Smart said that, within hours of the kidnapping, she was stripped of her favorite red pajamas, draped in white, religious robes and forced into a polygamous marriage with Mitchell, The AP reports.
She was also tethered to a metal cable strung between two trees and subjected to near-daily rapes while being forced to use alcohol and drugs.
Ms. Smart recalled being forced to live homeless, dress in disguises and stay quiet or lie about her identity if ever approached by strangers or police.
She has since revealed that her life and those of her family members were threatened daily by the former street preacher.
