NEW ORLEANS—A husband and wife charged with violently abusing a young autistic woman in Louisiana and forcing her to live in an outdoor cage pleaded guilty Monday, May 20, to multiple crimes in federal court.
Terry Knope II, 46, and Raylaine Knope, 43, both pleaded guilty in New Orleans to charges involving forced labor.
Terry Knope II also pleaded guilty to a hate crime charge. Court documents say he shot the victim with a BB gun because of her “actual and perceived disability.”
Each of the Knopes answered perfunctory questions from the judge about their understanding of the plea agreements as they stood, shackled, before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier. Neither made a statement regarding the crimes.
Barbier set sentencing for Aug. 22. Each faces a possible 28-year sentence.
The two were among five charged in 2018 documents alleging a litany of horrors against the 22-year-old victim, identified as a relative of Raylaine Knope, at a home in rural Tangipahoa Parish.
Two others have pleaded guilty and another remains scheduled for a July trial.
Through surveillance videos and interviews with witnesses, concerned about Knope’s living conditions. Investigators gathered enough evidence for a search warrant and were able to lead the woman to her rescue.
“At the time of the woman’s rescue, investigators found her malnourished, covered in insect bites and living in a shrub-covered, 6-by-8-foot cage outside a Rushing Lane home,” according to The Advocate.
“Deputies said she was forced to live in a makeshift shelter—a blue tarp draped over a cage that somewhat resembled a dog kennel,” FOX13 reported.
Among the abuses outlined by prosecutors in charging documents: The victim was at times beaten, burned with a cigarette lighter, drenched with a bucket of human waste and forced to eat the cremation ashes of her late mother.
The Knopes heaped verbal abuse on the victim and threatened to withhold food and water if she failed to perform household chores.
“The Knopes conspired to brutally coerce a vulnerable victim with disabilities to work long hours in despicable conditions with no monetary compensation,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division, according to court documents.
“The Department of Justice continues to combat human trafficking by forced labor and today’s guilty plea reflects our commitment to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims.”
Louisiana Couple Pleads Guilty to Criminal Civil Rights Charges for Abusing Woman with Disabilities: Raylaine Knope and Terry J. Knope II pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from their abuse of an adult woman with cognitive disabilities. https://t.co/TdlVdnVuxZ
— FBI New Orleans (@FBINewOrleans) May 22, 2019
An “attempted sex trafficking” charge in the Knopes’ original indictment was dropped from revised charges lodged earlier this month, ahead of the reaching of a plea agreement. But the new bill of information charges that Raylaine Knope forced the victim to make sexual advances toward male visitors to the Knope property.
In addition to the charges arising from the abuse of the victim, Terry Knope II pleaded guilty to concealing that others on the property where the abuse took place were manufacturing methamphetamine.
Raylaine Knope pleaded guilty to concealing that her husband was stealing the victim’s Social Security disability payments.
NTD News staff contributed to this article.
