A man who kept a teenage girl captive has avoided being sent to prison in the US state of Georgia.
In a case that has outraged many across the US, the man Michael Wysolovski, was given a suspended sentence despite pleading guilty to first degree cruelty to children and interstate interference with custody.
According to The Huffington Post, Wysolovski, kept his victim trapped inside a dog cage at his home in Duluth, Georgia, after he pursuaded her to move there when she was just 16.
Although the age of consent is 16 in the state of Georgia, it is believed that Wysolovski persuaded his victim to move in with him after befriending her on an online chat room for people with eating disorders.
It is believed that the Wysolovski, abused the young girl after she initially ageed to enter a BDSM relationship with him.
However Wysolovski became violent and ignored her pleas to stop by repeatedly sexually abusing her and force feeding her.
Court testimony also heard of how Wysolovski who was asked by the victim to control her eating habits, repeatedly locked her in a dog cage over the course of the time she was held captive.
The victim who has since developed back problems due to being locked in a cage was found after FBI agents searched Wysolovski’s home in June 2017, when they received a tip off from another woman the girl contacted on the eating disorder chat room.
Upon finding the victim agents and medical personnel found her to be severely malnourished and had contracted ringworm due to the unsanitary conditions she was living in.
However Wysolovski who was arrested at the scene and charged, has avoided any further jail time after he was given credit for the eight months he already served in prison.
Reports in the US say Wysolovski will serve the remaining nine years and four months of his sentence on probation and he will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Although Wysolovski was charged with rape and aggravated sodomy after his arrest, those charges were dropped as part of his plea deal.
Prosecutor’s involved in the case revealed that it would have been highly difficult to take the case to trial given the gray area surrounding the case as she initially agreed to enter the relationship legally.
It is also believed that the girl’s family decided not to go to trial as the girl has suffered severe mental health issues since and they fear she could be left traumatised by a trial experience.