PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man who kidnapped and beat his former girlfriend so badly that she was left with permanent brain damage has been sentenced to prison time.
On June 28, 2017, authorities in Vancouver learned that a woman was at the emergency room with serious injuries.
Doctors said she had a collapsed lung, broken ribs, a fractured sternum, facial fractures and extreme trauma to her head and neck. She had been beaten so badly that she had permanent brain damage.
Investigators learned the woman had been held captive at a motel in Southeast Portland for around 4 days by her then-boyfriend, Casey Allen Christianson.
She told officials she thought Christianson had taken her to the motel to kill her.
-That might have been the case had one of the woman’s family members not called her while they were at the motel.
Authorities said the woman’s brother called her using the video chat feature. Christianson answered and the brother caught a glimpse of his sister and her injuries.
The brother later said in court that he thought his sister was dead.
Officials later gathered recordings of phone calls Christianson made from jail in which he confessed to the attacks.
Christianson, who has an extensive criminal past, pleaded guilty in Multnomah County Court to 3 counts of 2nd-degree assault constituting domestic violence, 1st-degree kidnapping and coercion.
Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill sentenced Christianson Thursday to 20 years in prison.
The victim told those gathered in court how her life has changed since the attack.