Man, woman get up to 20 years in incest case

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Published Thursday, May 27, 2010 | 12:37 p.m.

Updated Thursday, May 27, 2010 | 6:07 p.m.

A married couple who both admitted guilt to parental incest were each sentenced today in Clark County District Court.

Judge James M. Bixler sentenced Frederick Vonseydewitz to eight to 20 years in prison and his wife, Mary Vonseydewitz, was sentenced to four to 20 years. They each had pleaded guilty to charges stemming from allegations of sexually abusing their children, a boy and a girl, when they were minors.

Crying, Mary Vonseydewitz told the judge she was sorry and said her husband had manipulated her. Her attorney asked for probation for her instead of time in prison, But Bixler had little sympathy for her.

"Mary, to be perfectly honest with you, I could easily find justification for holding you more responsible, because, despite the fact that he may be manipulative, he may have led you into this, there's one glaring fact that is impossible to ignore," Bixler said. "He was the stepfather in this situation. You were these children's mother. To say what happened is disgusting and egregious is not even close to how bad this was. ... You crossed the most sacred line ever in what you did to these kids. Let there be no mistake. They may be able to forgive you, but I'm not."

The now-adult children reported to police they had been sexually abused by Frederick Vonseydewitz, 45, and his wife, Mary, when they were minors. They were initially charged with numerous felony counts, including counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14 and sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14, among other charges.

In January, both Frederick and Mary Vonseydewitz pleaded guilty to reduced charges.

The charges came after a brother and sister contacted Metro Police to report they had been abused by their mother, Mary, and stepfather, Frederick, when they were children. The siblings, who were in their early 20s when they contacted police, reported they had been subjected to multiple instances of abuse from 1996 to 2007.

The daughter said the abuse started when she was 8 years old, court documents indicate, and a 1999 incident was reported to Child Protective Services, but the girl was told to deny the reports, court documents indicate.

The woman told police in 2009 her stepfather first sexually assaulted her when she was 13 and that he had subsequently sexually assaulted her multiple times.

Records indicate the brother told police he had been sexually assaulted by both his mother and stepfather starting at age 10 and until he was 14 or 15 years old.

The brother and sister both told police there were times Frederick and Mary Vonseydewitz forced them to participate in sex acts with both parents at the same time.

As the case progressed through the court system, a number of the felony counts were dismissed after arguments by the Vonseydewitzes' attorneys. Under the plea agreement on record, each pleaded to two felony counts pertaining to just one of the children.

Mary Vonseydewitz had been out of custody after posting $150,000 bail. Frederick Vonseydewitz has remained in custody since his arrest in January 2009.