Tanya Nicole Kach-McCrum (born October 14, 1981)[1] is an American woman who was held captive for ten years by a security guard who worked at the school she attended.[2] Her captor, Thomas Hose, eventually pleaded guilty to involuntary deviant sexual intercourse and other related offenses and was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison.[3] Ultimately, he served the full 15 years.
Tanya Nicole Kach-McCrum | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tanya Nicole Kach October 14, 1981 U.S. |
| Known for | Being held captive for ten years |
Captivity
editThomas Hose (born 1957)[4] was a security guard at Cornell Middle School in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where Kach was an eighth-grade student. Hose befriended Kach, often taking her out of classes to talk to her, and one day when he caught her skipping class, he kissed her. Over time, Hose convinced Kach to run away from her family and move in with him, which she did in February 1996. She was 14 years old at the time.[5]
For the first four years, she was not allowed out of the house. Hose lived with his parents and son,[2] and went to great lengths to keep Kach hidden from them. She was confined entirely to his second-story bedroom, and had to go to the toilet in a bucket. In 2000, Hose created a new identity for Kach, "Nikki Allen", and introduced her to his parents as his girlfriend who would be moving in with them. After this, she was occasionally allowed to leave the house but had a strict curfew. Six years later, she escaped.[6][7]
Escape and later life
editAfter being allowed some time outside of the house, Kach began to realize that her relationship with Hose was not normal. She escaped from captivity on March 21, 2006, with the help of Joe Sparico, a grocery store owner in her neighborhood whom she had befriended, by revealing her true identity to him and asking him to send police to the house.[8] In 2007, Hose pleaded guilty to three counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, interfering with the custody of a child, corruption of a minor and child endangerment.[9] Hose was sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison[10] and was released in 2022, subsequently registering as a sex offender.[11]
Kach was happy to be reunited with her family, but has since become estranged from her father and stepmother, who consider that she is partly responsible for what happened to her.[12] Through her marriage in September 2018,[13] she has a stepdaughter and stepson and is grandmother to her stepson's young children.
Since her escape, Kach attempted to sue numerous government organizations for failing her, including the police and school board. All were dismissed.[1] She has also written a New York Times bestselling book titled Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid: The Tanya Nicole Kach Story.[14]
Adaptation
editOn Saturday June 8, 2024 Lifetime aired a TV movie called The Girl Locked Upstairs: The Tanya Kach Story starring Jordyn Ashley Olson as Tanya Kach and Robert Baker as Tom Hose. Elizabeth Smart serves as an executive producer.[15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Captive: The Sex Slave Girl, Channel 4, 29 November 2012
- ^ a b Ian Urbina, "Woman, 24, Says Neighbor Held Her Captive for 10 Years Archived 2015-06-24 at the Wayback Machine", New York Times, Mar 24, 2006.
- ^ "Man pleads guilty in runaway case Archived 2022-03-09 at the Wayback Machine" (Associated Press), Reading Eagle, June 25, 2007.
- ^ https://www.meganslaw.psp.pa.gov/OffenderDetails/PhysDesc/55660 [bare URL]
- ^ "Ex-guard sentenced in 10-year abduction". Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ^ "Woman Missing for Ten Years Reunited with Family. She had Stockholm Syndrome. Archived 2006-04-27 at the Wayback Machine", USA Today, March 23, 2006.
- ^ "Woman tells details of 10 years in captivity ", NBC News, March 24, 2006.
- ^ Katherine Ramsland, "Sex Slaves: The Psychology of Mastery Archived 2012-07-01 at the Wayback Machine", Crime Library.
- ^ "Story hits close to home for Tanya Nicole Kach, held captive in McKeesport Archived 2016-03-07 at the Wayback Machine", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 8, 2013
- ^ "Man Pleads Guilty to Holding Girl Captive for 10 Years Archived 2022-02-09 at the Wayback Machine", ABCNews, June 26, 2007.
- ^ "Man who held teenage girl captive in McKeesport home for 10 years released from prison Archived 2022-02-09 at the Wayback Machine", WTAE, February 9, 2022
- ^ "Tanya Kach sued by father, stepmother". 26 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "The Case of the Missing Girl Locked in a Room". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-27. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
- ^ Kach, Tanya Nicole; Fisher, Lawrence (2011). Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid: The Tanya Nicole Kach Story. Tate Publishing & Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-61346-759-6.
- ^ Baker, KC (April 12, 2024). "Lifetime Teams Up with Elizabeth Smart for New Movie on Tanya Kach, Who Was Held Captive by School Security Guard". People. Retrieved June 8, 2024.