Guilty pleas in caging, beating, abuse of autistic woman

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A husband and wife charged with violently abusing a young autistic woman in Louisiana and forcing her to live in an outdoor cage have pleaded guilty to multiple crimes in federal court.

Terry Knope II and Raylaine Knope pleaded guilty Monday in New Orleans to charges including forced labor conspiracy. Terry Knope II also pleaded guilty to a hate crime charge. Court documents say he shot the victim with a BB gun because she was disabled.

Each could face 28 years in prison when sentenced in August.

They were among five charged in a 2018 indictment alleging a litany of horrors against the 22-year-old victim.

Prosecutors said the victim was at times beaten, burned with a cigarette lighter and forced to eat the cremation ashes of her late mother.