Antonio Pope, the man convicted of kidnapping and raping two female UW-Madison students in 2006, will spend 40 years in prison for the attacks, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Markson sentenced Pope to an additional 20 years of extended supervision after his prison term, provided he register as a sex offender and have no contact with the victims.
According to a criminal complaint, Pope abducted the young women near campus on Nov. 29 and Dec. 9, 2006 before driving 10 to 15 minutes off campus and raping them. He blindfolded, bound and threatened both victims with knives.
In November 2007, Markson found Pope guilty on two counts of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of kidnapping after Pope plead no contest to the charges.
Pope initially said he was high on ecstasy and did not have any recollection of the attacks. Defense Attorney Karie Cattanach said Pope's lengthy criminal record and inability to be responsible for his actions warranted a severe sentence.
I'm at a loss for words to describe how monstrous your conduct was,"" Markson said before announcing Pope's sentence. ""These women were scared to death.""
One of the victims' mothers testified at the sentencing hearing and said the abduction and rape left her daughter ""just a shadow of who she once was."" She said her daughter stopped attending school and quit her job due to the stress resulting from the crime. The victim can no longer be alone and panics when male strangers approach her, according to her mother.
""These are the actions of a maniac,"" the mother said of Pope's crimes, asking the judge for a lengthy prison sentence.
Pope did not speak at the hearing, but made a statement through a letter read by his attorney John Fiske. In the statement, Pope apologized to the victims, his children, the UW-Madison campus and the Madison community.
""He knows that the victims in this crime may not be in a position to forgive him now, but he hopes that in the future they will find themselves able to do that,"" Fiske said.
