Saruti

She's normalized so much.

That's why she's able to cope with the worst possible scenario.

And Katie's so-called team, which included police officers, prosecutors and child therapists, instantly rallied around her and promised to protect her going forward.

District Attorney James Catterson summed it up with the following.

She was nobody's child, but she really is everybody's child.

And we have an obligation to protect her.

And with a potential trial drawing closer, in 1994, there came another horrifying twist.

It turned out that John Esposito had actually made audio recordings from the bunker, where Katie could be heard screaming out in terror and begging to be set free.

And this one is just too much.

One of the most heartbreaking soundbites was apparently of Katie singing happy birthday to herself on the morning of her 10th birthday.

These tapes are not publicly available.

And honestly, if you were thinking we're going to play them here, we can't.

And I don't fucking want to hear them, to be perfectly honest with you.

And Katie feels the same way.

She says she's already been forced to remember so much that she does not need to fill in the gaps with even more buried memories.

But back in 1994, there was a real chance of these tapes being played in court if it went to trial.

In the end, however, that wasn't necessary.

John Esposito ended up taking a plea deal and pleading guilty to first-degree kidnapping.

While he wasn't officially convicted of sexual abuse charges against Katie, the judge confirmed they believed that this had indeed taken place, which aggravated his sentence.

On the 27th of July 1994, John Esposito was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, to be served at the notorious Sing Sing Prison in New York.