Nebraska Man Sentenced in Sex-Torture Case

AP ^ | 9-5 | AP

[ambrose]

Neb. Man Sentenced in Sex-Torture Case

Fri Sep 5,11:54 PM ET

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WAYNE, Neb. - A former florist accused of holding a Texas man captive in the basement of his flower shop for nine days and sexually assaulting him was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison Friday.

Roger Van, 56, was ordered to serve up to 30 years in prison for his conviction on sexual assault and false imprisonment charges, stemming from the December 2001 incident. He was sentenced to an additional year for fleeing the state last September to avoid his original sentencing.

Authorities said Van lured the man to Nebraska via the Internet.

Van had pleaded innocent in July for failure to appear in court, but changed his plea to guilty Friday under an agreement with prosecutors.

He was convicted last summer of sexually assaulting, torturing and holding a 36-year-old Houston man captive in a cell in the basement of his flower shop, located in Wayne, 85 miles northwest of Omaha.

Police said the man escaped Dec. 17, 2001, with the help of Jerry Marshall, 36, a flower shop employee who initially participated in the assault but later backed out after Van allegedly threatened to kill the other man.

Marshall cooperated with authorities and has pleaded guilty to third-degree assault.

Van was charged with failure to appear after he disappeared before his scheduled sentencing last September. He was arrested in California in December following a chase that began in Las Vegas.

[ambrose]

                                  ZED
                       Bring out The Gimp.

                                  MAYNARD
                       I think The Gimp's sleepin'.

ZED Well, I guess you'll just have to go wake him up now, won't you?

[Larry Lucido]

Zed's still dead, baby.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Scanning...scanninng....

Huh.

How 'bout that?

Not one mention of the word "Homosexual" in the entire article.

The Gaystapo gets another pass from the media...color me shocked...

[Wolfie]

"Wake the Gimp".

[Onelifetogive]

Authorities said Van lured the man to Nebraska via the Internet.

That does it!!!

Never again will I cross the country to meet men I meet on the internet...

[big gray tabby]

Hey now. Don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch girl!

BTW, I am a well-built guy in my 20's with powder blue eyes and tight, firm abs. Have you ever been to Bettendorf? It's beautiful in the fall.

[Onelifetogive]

Hey now. Don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch girl!

I'm not a girl...

Bettendorf, huh...

[zygoat]

The florist was ordered to serve up to 30 years on the charges, STEMMING from the December, 2001, incident. They caught him after he put the PETAL to the metal, and the charges BLOOMED. One has to wonder why they would LEAF out the homosexual angle of the crime. Is it too THORNY of an issue?

[zygoat]

Well, ya know what they say about curiousity and cats. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[GSWarrior]

I think florist and homosexual are interchangeable.