W.Va. man pleads guilty in torture of woman

Bobby Brewster, 25, pleaded guilty in Logan County Circuit Court on Tuesday to second-degree sexual assault, malicious assault and conspiracy to commit kidnapping or holding hostage. He was sentenced to at least 13 and as many as 40 years in prison, said Logan County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Ilderton.

In exchange for the plea, charges of kidnapping and assault during the commission of a felony were dismissed, Ilderton said.

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

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

All the other defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges except Danny Combs, whose trial is scheduled to begin in early September. Brewster agreed to testify against Combs as part of this week's plea agreement, which was offered only after consulting with Williams and her family, Ilderton said.

Because Williams is black and her assailants white, prosecutors were pressured to charge the defendants with hate crimes, but only one faced such a charge.

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

(This version CORRECTS

corrects dismissed charges in 3rd graf; changes attribution throughout to assistant prosecutor, sted clerk; subs 6th graf to insert detail of plea)