Amish kidnappers sentenced to hundreds of years in prison

Booking photos of Stephen Howells II (left) and Nicole Vaisey. Source: St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office.

HERMON, N.Y. – A Hermon couple has been sentenced to hundreds of years behind bars for sexually abusing at least a half dozen children.

Those included Amish sisters, snatched from a roadside stand near Heuvelton last year, which sparked national headlines and a massive search across the North Country.

Stephen Howells II, 40, and his girlfriend Nicole Vaisey, 26, were given a total sentence of nearly 900 years in a federal prison during a court appearance last week.

Howells received a 580 year sentence while Vaisey got 300 years.

Court heard that Howells had used his position as a nurse to obtain drugs to sedate the abducted children while Vaisey was involved in filming the sexual abuse.

The St. Lawrence County sheriff called the sentencing a culmination of an investigation into unspeakable crimes.

The couple still face sentencing on state kidnapping charges on Jan. 5, 2016.

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