9/21/2015 – Virginia — A couple out of Iowa have been convicted of the brutal kidnapping, torture and sexual exploitation of a young woman in Virginia – all thanks to an alert trucker who called police.
Aldair Hodza, 36, was sentenced to 42-years in federal prison and Laura E. Sorensen, 31, was given a 40-year sentence.
As previously reported by JohnTV back in February, Hodza and Sorensen abducted a 20-year-old woman in their home state of Iowa in Dec. of last year before transporting her to Virginia in their RV – forcing the woman to endure 18-days of unthinkable torture and sexual abuse.
The victim, identified only a “J.B.”, was rescued after truck driver Kevin Kimmel called police from a Pilot truck stop in New Kent County. The truck driver told 911 that he had observed a young adult woman who repeatedly was looking out the window of a tan-colored Sun Voyager R.V. parked near his rig and he feared she was in danger.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson was unmoved by the couple’s apology when they appeared before him and their victim in federal court in Aug. “Some of the things you did to this young lady are so horrifying you cannot capture it in words … She may never be able to have a normal relationship because of the unusual and rare level of depravity in this case,” Judge Hudson said.
Court records detail how Hodza and Sorensen lured their victim into their RV and then refused to let her leave.
The couple took photos of “J.B.” and then posted prostitution ads on Craigslist offering the unwilling woman for sale.
The couple continued to prostitute their victim as they traveled across the country. Using the prostitution proceeds for gas and food.
When J.B. tried to refuse to prostitute or flee the RV she was repeatedly tortured. The couple would heat keys or scissors on the RV’s stove and then press them into her skin. The couple would also drive nails through her feet. Health officials founds numerous wounds on J.B.’s body that backed up her claims.
J.B. was also reportedly raped by the couple and that they would often use various objects – like a large flashlight – which caused numerous internal injuries to their victim.
J.B. was reportedly often kept on a leash and that at one point Hodza slit a dog’s throat in front of J.B. to scare her into not resisting their demands or trying to escape.
When detectives searched Hodza and Sorensen’s cell phones they found lewd photos of J.B. and several photos where their victim was forcibly restrained and gaged. One series of photos is reported to have shown someone pouring bleach into an open wound on J.B.’s body.
Much of the abuse is reported to have been witnessed by Hodza’s 8-year-old daughter.
Prior to formal sentencing Hodza stated, “This is monstrous, horrible, senseless, inexplicable, inexcusable … I offer sincere apologies. I know that doesn’t mean much because I can’t take back what happened.”
Sorensen was less willing to take responsibility for her actions when she said, “I made a bad choice, however, I am not a bad person.”
Prosecutors had only asked for 35-year sentences.