Robert Abner Sentenced to 47 Years

July 10, 2009

Robert Abner

by Kim Hynes (WICHITA, Kan.)

"It's his turn to experience the hell he put me through. My life will never be the same so why should his."

That's what Joyce Patterson told a judge about the man who abducted her last summer. She pleaded for Robert Abner to get the maximum prison sentence. "Let him realize how much he tortured me and put me through. He deserves to pay the price," she said.

A jury convicted Abner of kidnapping Patterson from the convenience store where she worked. He held her captive for three days at him home and sexually assaulted her. "You just don't know the level of fear until you experience the fear yourself. It just keeps escalating," she said.

The judge sentenced Abner to the maximum for each of the 11 counts, which equals 139 years. But state statute only allows for 47 years.

Patterson says it's the ending she needed in order to move on from the abuse she experienced while in captivity. "I've already started healing. From the time of the verdict, it's just been so much relief. I feel so much lighter and I feel like I'm getting back to my old self," she said.

Patterson says she'll never get over what happened, but she knows she'll eventually be okay. "I think I'm stronger now, I can get through about anything now." She says one of the hardest parts is she no longer feels safe anywhere she goes. She says what happened to her isn't supposed to happen in small towns. She says she often finds herself looking over her shoulder.

Abner's defense asked for a smaller sentence of 14 years. They say he has psychological disorders and didn't permanently harm Patterson. But the prosecutor said just because he didn't kill her doesn't mean he deserves a lighter sentence.

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