A Conway teenager kidnapped in late 2013 and held hostage for nine months is telling her story publicly for the first time.
Kidnapping and sexual assault survivor Abby Hernandez sat down with ABC’s Deborah Roberts for an exclusive 20/20 interview that will air Friday night.
Hernandez, now 19, went missing after leaving Conway’s Kennett High School on Oct. 9, 2013. She returned home the following July, and eight days later her abductor, Nathaniel Kibby, was arrested.
Kibby, of Gorham, had faced more than 180 charges for kidnapping the then-14-year-old, who he held hostage and sexually assaulted over the course of nine months at his home. He is serving 40 to 90 years in prison after striking a plea deal with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office in 2016 that saved Hernandez from having to testify about the graphic and disturbing details of her abuse at trial.
Kibby was ultimately convicted of seven charges that include kidnapping, sexual assault and witness tampering. He is serving his sentence out of state.
At his sentencing in Belknap County Superior Court in May 2016, Hernandez spoke about how her time in captivity still haunted her.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like I am completely free. There are certain aspects of my freedom I can never get back,” she said. “But in the same aspect, I want you to know that I appreciate my freedom because of you, and that I enjoy and appreciate life because of you. And that I never look at sunshine in the same way, and that I never look at fresh air in the same way.”
While Hernandez has spoken to local reporters since her return home, she often appeared in news stories anonymously because of her status as a sexual assault survivor. In her 20/20 interview, Hernandez shed those protections, allowing her to reclaim the narrative and detail her story for the first time. (The Monitor does not name victims of sexual assault unless they publicly identify.)
During the interview, Hernandez told Roberts that Kibby instructed her to call him “master” and devised a plan to control her.
“He said, ‘You know, I’m thinking of finding something a little more humane for you to keep you quiet,’ ” she said in a clip previewing the interview. “He said, ‘I’m thinking of a shock collar.’ ”
She continued: “I remember he put it on me. And he told me, ‘Okay, try and scream.’ And – I just slowly started to raise my voice. And then it shocked me. So, he’s like, ‘Okay, now you know what it feels like.’ ”
The 20/20 interview will air at 10 p.m.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)