Michael, 33, pleaded guilty in May 2019 to first-degree cruelty to children caused by “excessive physical pain during sexual intercourse” and interstate interference with custody.
Michael was arrested in June 2017 after FBI agents found Hailey, who had been missing for over a year, trapped in a dog cage in his home in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
Hailey who lived in Charlotte, NC first met Michael when she was 15 in an online anorexia chat room. In May 2016, when Hailey turned 16, which happens to be North Carolina’s and Georgia’s age of consent, she ran away from home to meet up and live with Michael in Georgia.
Hailey and Micheal initially engaged in a “consensual non-consensual” BDSM (bondage, domination, submission, masochism) relationship.
Hailey even asked Michael to control her eating habits as part of the BDSM relationship. But the relationship soon turned abusive, Micheal forced her into sex, kept her in a dog cage, and limited what she ate.
Hailey was rescued at age 17 after contacting a woman online who then contacted authorities. When the FBI found Hailey she was malnourished, suffered from ringworm, and plagued with back problems from being bent over in the dog cage.
In a plea deal Michael was given 10 years of probation. Micheal also has to register as a sex offender.
