Federal judge allows Elizabeth Smart testimony against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell

Elizabeth Smart, the Utah girl snatched from her bed and later found alive in 2002, has been allowed to give testimony today against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell in his competency hearings.

Smart, then 14, was held captive by Mitchell and his partner Wanda Barzee for nine months in 2002. Smart was located in Sandy, Utah, only 18 miles from her home. Mitchell was initially found incompetent when charged with the kidnapping, but now faces charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.

Smart, who is now 21 and a senior at Brigham Young University, testified that during the ordeal, she was raped frequently, sometimes 3-4 times a day. Smart said that the assaults were frequent and that she was rarely able to defy her attacker, causing friction with Barzee:

“Wanda would get very upset with him,” said Smart. “She’d say ‘All you do is lust after her.'”

Smart said “There wasn’t an actual 24-hour period he wasn’t able to rape me.”

There was at least one time when Smart was able to rebuff Mitchell. During a hike to get water from a stream, Smart said that Mitchell tried to convince her to have sex with him despite it being Wanda’s turn.

“He said how much he needed me to have sex with him right then and there, and that Wanda would never know, she would understand and she would be OK, and it would be OK,” said Smart, who testified that she had refused him sex.

[Source: ABC]