A married couple in Co Armagh who sexually abused a woman held prisoner in their home for six years have been sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison.
Keith Baker was sentenced to 15 years in prison while his wife Caroline was given a three-year sentence, of which 18 months must be served in jail and the remaining 18 months on licence.
The now 53-year-old woman was taken from her home in England in 2004 and brought to Craigavon, Co Armagh, by the Bakers.
They kept the woman, who has severe learning difficulties, in a squalid room without a source of light, bedclothes or curtains in the house.
The bathroom floor was covered in human waste and her mattress was badly stained.
Neighbours did not know she was there.
There was no handle on the inside of the door and there was a CCTV camera on the ceiling to record the abuse.
Sentencing the couple in Craigavon Court this morning, Judge Patrick Lynch said it was not easy to understand how "these individuals have so lost their moral compasses" that they could subject the woman, who clearly exhibited mental difficulties, to such mistreatment and deprive her of her dignity and the most basic of living standards.
He said they ensured no one outside the household knew of her existence.
Keith Baker was also living with a third woman, who eventually alerted police.
Judge Lynch said Keith Baker was a Svengali figure exercising control over three women with his dominant personality and willingness to resort to violence.
Warning: Graphic details below
The perpetrators filmed themselves attacking their naked and helpless victim.
The judge said: "She lacked the capacity to make decisions and was regarded as a mentally disordered person and did not have capacity to consent to sex."
Keith Baker, 61, whose address was given as prison, and Caroline Baker, 54, pleaded guilty to sexual activity involving penetration and causing a person with a mental disorder to engage in sexual activity.
Keith Baker was also charged with rape and indecent assault. Caroline Baker was charged with aiding and abetting rape and other sexual offences including indecent assault.
Sentencing Caroline Baker, the judge said he found it hard to understand how she could show such little sympathy for the victim who became emaciated and was living in disgraceful conditions, which could have been remedied.
Judge Lynch said he believed she would not be a future threat to society if she did not have contact with her husband, but he did believe Keith Baker posed a threat and was highly likely to re-offend.
On completion of his 15-year sentence Keith Baker must remain on licence for a further five years.
Police rescued the woman from the house in Craigavon in 2012 after another woman living there alerted them to her.
During a search of the house police discovered videos of the Bakers abusing her.
The judge said the photos and videos were recorded over an extended period because the woman went from looked well nourished to being emaciated.
Initially the couple both claimed the sexual activity was consensual and the woman had instigated it but later they pleaded guilty.
Couple met while working for Salvation Army
A total of eight children also lived in the house, along with another woman who was another partner to Keith Baker.
The judge said the household was "highly unorthodox" and the victim was totally isolated from the rest of society.
Her words when she was released from captivity were: "Yes, freedom."
She did not appear on the electoral register, was not with a GP or dentist and never claimed benefits.
Her abusers took material showing Keith Baker having sex with his partner and the victim, almost every time naked, the judge said.
At one stage she was told she had "learned quite a bit" over the last few years.
She went from being well-nourished to becoming emaciated, extremely thin with a distended abdomen.
The judge commented: "She did not even know the name of the perpetrator."
When she was released she did not want to be left alone in the room.
This is clearly indicative to me of the isolated existence she had led.
She ate everything in a hurry and was dehydrated.
In January 2013 Keith Baker was arrested and claimed he had rescued the victim from an abusive relationship.
He was raised in Guernsey and lived most of his life in Kent. He met his wife when they both worked for the Salvation Army.
He was assessed as displaying sexual deviancy and posing a high risk of re-offending.
Caroline Baker played a "secondary" role, the judge said, influenced by her husband's domineering personality.
"Caroline Baker was in a virtual state of marital captivity."
He said she was a pawn under the influence of a very powerful and dominating Keith Baker and also a victim of exploitation and emotional control by her husband.
When questioned she claimed the woman was the "most sensible person I know" and claimed the sexual activity was initiated by her.
Addressing Caroline Baker, the judge said: "I still find it hard to understand how you could have so little empathy for your victim.
You connived in treatment of your victim that reduced her to a state of emaciation, no medical treatment or dental treatment.
"Her living conditions were a disgrace. She was under-fed.
"None of this was necessary."
Basic human rights were stolen from victim
Detective Chief Superintendent George Clarke, head of the PSNI's public protection branch, said it was an appalling litany of crimes carried out against an extremely vulnerable woman.
"This was an inhumane way to treat anyone.
"Her basic human rights were stolen from her by people who can only be described as evil.
"What she went through is unimaginable and any right-minded person will be horrified to hear about the suffering this victim endured at the hands of these cruel people.
It doesn't bear thinking about what this victim endured over the thousands of days she was kept prisoner.
