A sex crime, particularly rape or criminal sexual penetration, is a very serious felony. Defendants face the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence and the stigma of being a convicted felon. Because the label “sex offender” has such a negative connotation in the public eye, being required to register is considered by many as the most onerous consequence.
Now, a Georgia man who has been keeping a teenage girl in sexual captivity for more than a year was arrested and convicted, after police discovered that he had only not held the girl as his personal sex slave, he also starve her and kept her locked in a dog cage. But what’s the most disturbing is that, despite the allegation that even the Georgia man admitted to, Michael Wysolovski, the suspect, is not going to Jail! The judge decided to let him go without any jail time, thanks to a sickening reason!
The victim was a teenage girl from Ballantyne, North Carolina who went missing for more than a year before being found in Wysolovski’s Duluth home in 2017.
Wysolovski met the victim, Hailey Burns when she was only 15 in an online forum for people struggling with the eating disorder anorexia.
The two then developed a close bond that he leveraged to persuade Burns to flee her home after Burns confided in Wysolovski about her battle with anorexia and low self-esteem and had expressed her unhappiness with life and her desire to run away from home.
The abuse of an innocent child is arguably one of the most horrific things a person can commit. Naturally, victimizing a person with a mental illness is an abhorrent crime that is made considerably worse.
Wysolovski traveled to her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina to pick her up and bring her back to his home in Duluth, a suburb of Georgia Atlanta. The girl was 16 at the time of disappearance, which is the official age of consent in Georgia, so Wysolovski was not charged with child molestation at the time of his arrest.
Prosecutors claimed that Wysolovski and the teen had a sexual relationship that progressed from consensual BDSM sex acts that simulated nonconsensual sex to actual nonconsensual sex that involved excessive force, biting, and physical violence. For more than a year, the girl was reported missing in North Carolina until she contacted another user on an online eating disorder forum about her “situation” with Wysolovski. After police discovered the girl at his home in June 2017, an individual immediately contacted the FBI, and the 33-year-old was arrested and charged with rape and aggravated sodomy.
According to court documents, FBI agents discovered an extremely malnourished 17-year-old girl who had been missing for more than a year and had been trapped in a dog cage, where she developed ringworms and back problems.
The girl told the court that Wysolovski tortured her with water, causing her to develop an irrational fear of showers and baths. He also caused severe psychological harm by exploiting her eating disorder and severely restricting her food intake, telling her how many calories she could consume, and repeatedly telling her that no one “would ever love her again if she gained any weight,” destroying her self-esteem.
And despite all of these, Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hamil chose not to impose any jail time, as Wysolovski, 33, was facing a 25-year sentence, claiming that, since he had already served credit. Wysolovski will only have to spend 9 years and 4 months on probation and register as a sex offender, even though Judge Hamil only sentenced the man to a meager 8 months in prison, he considered the man’s prior 8-month detention before being released on bond as “time served.”
Judge Hamil, on the other hand, offered Wysolovski a plea bargain in exchange for pleading guilty to first-degree cruelty to children and interstate interference with custody; although, it is alarming to note that Wysolovski has previously been accused of rape, aggravated sodomy, child maltreatment, false detention, and interstate interference with custody.
Wysolovski’s request for first-offender status should not be granted, according to Judge Hamil, who acknowledged this. Nevertheless, thanks to his plea agreement, the man was able to leave the courtroom without ever having to enter a prison cell.
Hamil said, “I can’t see even the most twisted definition of what you did as help … I don’t see any emotion from you. I don’t see any remorse from you,
I am not moved to give you first offender status … In my time on the bench I can count on both hands the time I’ve refused to give someone first offender status – but there’s something inside me that says this is one of those times.”
While she testified against Wysolovski, outlining the awful torture she suffered, Burns held a teddy bear for emotional support. Her time in Wysolovski’s home has caused trauma that has led to additional diagnoses, although she had multiple mental health disorders before the abuse began.
“He manipulated me heavily, taking advantage of my mental illness to push me closer to his desires. He lowered my self-esteem greatly and led me to believe I’d never be loved or have a proper life if I gained any weight,” the poor victim said.
Burns is said to have attempted suicide three times since escaping. She is also preoccupied with aspects of her surroundings, such as repeatedly checking locks and doors to ensure her safety.
When the process allowed Wysolovski’s release, Burns’ family’s worst fears were confirmed as they initially opposed going to trial, fearing that it would worsen their daughter’s mental health.
Anthony Burns said, “Your honor, I will not allow the defendant to hurt her anymore. And I will do everything in my power to make sure he never does this to another family like mine.”
Shauna Burns, who is the victim’s mother, said, “You are a coward. A silver-tongued abuser who preys on young women and girls. You rape them. You torture them. You control them. You’re sick and sadistic.”
Burns and her family are terrified that Wysolovski will try to harm or kidnap their daughter again. They are also concerned that, having gotten away with abusing their daughter, he will try to sexually abuse other girls.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: TapHaps, WSOCTV, 11alive