Another Guilty Plea in W. Va. Torture Case

July 17, 2008— -- Another defendant has pleaded guilty tocharges stemming from the suspected torture of a young woman heldcaptive in West Virginia last summer.

Bobby Brewster, 25, pleaded guilty in Logan County Circuit Courton Tuesday to second-degree sexual assault, malicious assault andconspiracy to commit kidnapping or holding hostage, The CharlestonGazette reported. He was sentenced to at least 13 and as many as 40years in prison, the newspaper said.

A call to Logan County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Ilderton wasnot immediately returned Wednesday night and his phone rangunanswered Thursday morning.

Brewster was arrested in September along with five others. Aseventh person was charged later.

Authorities say Charleston resident Megan Williams was held fordays in a trailer where she was forced to eat animal feces,sexually assaulted and stabbed. She was rescued Sept. 8 after ananonymous caller alerted authorities.

All the other defendants have pleaded guilty to various chargesexcept Danny Combs, whose trial is scheduled to begin later thissummer.

Because Williams is black and her assailants white, prosecutorswere pressured to charge the defendants with hate crimes, but onlyone faced such a charge.

The Associated Press generally does not identify suspectedvictims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother, Carmen,agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams has said she wantedpeople to know what her daughter, then 20, endured.