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Teen victim of man who took her to Tennessee says she caused damage to her and her family

By Howard B. Owens

The teenage victim of Timothy Logsdon said in County Court this morning that she still has nightmares because of the 29-year-old man. She wakes up with shakes, she said. She has trouble trusting people now, she said.

She described a situation where she was emotionally confused and manipulated by Logsdon's "mind games" into dropping out of school and traveling with him to Tennessee. 

She said she didn't really accept at first that she was a victim, but in January she came to the realization that "what everybody else said was true."

"What he did to my family was destructive," she said. "He wasn't thinking of anybody but himself."

Logsdon, sentenced yesterday to four years in federal prison for transporting an individual across state lines for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity, was sentenced in County Court today under the terms of a prior plea deal. Logsdon received a four-year prison term to be counted concurrently with his term in federal prison.

While Logsdon has already spent 10 months in federal lock-up while his case went through the federal legal process, he won't receive any credit for time served with the state because he was technically released on his own recognizance locally.

After being sentenced by Judge Robert C. Noonan, Logsdon signed orders of protection barring him from any contact for eight years with his victim and with his wife, though Noonan did allow one last visit for his wife after court to discuss with Logsdon an issue with one of their children.

While District Attorney Lawrence Friedman asked for the maximum sentence available under terms of the plea agreement, Public Defender Gary Horton didn't really argue for a shorter sentence. He did try to explain Logsdon's actions and that his client accepts responsibility for his actions.

"He has a history of serving his country and as a result of that service suffers from PTSD and suspected traumatic brain injury," Horton said. "I know he regrets his actions. I know he has trouble coping himself, with trying to understand what happened and what he did."

Logsdon has no prior criminal history.  He will now be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.

When it was his turn to speak, Logsdon said he didn't have much to add to what his attorney already said except that he apologized to his victim, to her family and to his own family.

"I don't know what else to say, I guess, except that I just hope that someday I can come back to my family, if at all possible," Logsdon said.

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