CBS News/ October 13, 2011, 9:11 AM

Captive sex slave for 10 years tells her story

For 10 years, Tanya Kach, of McKeesport, Pa., was held as a sex slave under her abductor's complete control. Now, she's come out to tell her amazing survival story.

In 1996, Kach was a 14-year-old girl carrying around grown-up problems. Her parents were splitting up. And, like most girls that age, adjusting to the teenage years was tough.

Kach told Lynne Hayes-Freeland, of CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA-TV, "My mother wasn't in my life at that point. My dad completely forgot he even had had a daughter and we were living under the same roof, and I was hanging around with the wrong crowd."

That combination made Kach the perfect target for Thomas Hose. He worked as a security guard at her middle school, and they became fast friends. Meeting under the stairwell there, Kach says she believed she was starting a relationship with a man 25 years her senior -- a man who was taking charge.

Kach recalled, "He was an authority figure, wearing a uniform and a badge. (He was) somebody that you would trust, and he befriended me."

But Kach quickly got in over her head. When she ran away from home, she ran to Hose,- who was living with his parents and a son. Hose kept her hidden away in a second-floor bedroom for 10 years. Even his parents say they never knew she was there.

To the outside world, Tanya Kach was a missing milk carton kid -- thus the title of her book, "Memoir of Milk Carton Kid."

Kach told CBS News her life in captivity was "absolutely horrible." She says she was confined to a bedroom 24 hours a day and led downstairs to a take a shower at most once a week.

Hayes-Freeland asked, "There were times that you didn't have access to a bathroom?"

"He put a bucket in there, and said, 'That's your bathroom,'" Kach said. "I was just so brainwashed. I feel humiliated now. Absolutely."

Kach says her worst memories are the holidays, and Christmas Eve in particular. She spent four of them inside a closet on the second floor of the Hose home.

"It broke my heart," she said. "I thought of my family, wondering if they were thinking about me."

Over time, Hose allowed Kach to go on the back porch of the house when he was getting ready for work. She didn't leave because he promised to hunt her down and threatened her life.

"He would just point. I was like a dog," she said. "I did what my master told me. I went in the closet."

That lasted for years. Hose made Kach change her hair color and her name, and with those changes came limited freedoms. As she got out, Kach wanted more. She found a friend at a nearby convenience store and one day confided in him that her name wasn't Nikki at all -- but Tanya -- and she was the girl police had been looking for for a decade. He called police and Hose was arrested.

Thomas Hose, now 53, pleaded guilty in June 2007 to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor, interfering with the custody of a child and child endangerment. A judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison. He is eligible for parole in February 2012.

Kach said, "He's an absolute monster. There's just no words to explain him."

What's next for Tanya Kach? She is working on an associate's degree and hopes to be a realtor.

Hayes-Freeland said on "The Early Show" that Kach plans to have her voice heard at Hose's parole hearing in February. Hoping to avoid seeing her former captor, she plans to submit written or videotaped testimony.

© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
44 Comments Add a Comment
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shelly4060 says:
what he did was wrong
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Master11323 says:
This article is misleading because she was neither a "captive" nor a "sex slave." She voluntarily ran away from home so she could live in this guys house and have sex with him, which is why he was never charged with kidnapping. I don't believe her story, it sounds like ********. I think what really happened is she got into some kind of argument/fight with him and got angry and reported him out of spite.

She knew exactly what she was getting into. She could have announced her presence to his parents at any point in time, but she made a conscious effort to avoid detection for 10 YEARS. I'm sorry but when we consider all the facts this case more or less amounts to a ****** teenager having a crush on an older man, so she ran away to live with him. I don't believe he threatened to kill her, I'm calling BS on that claim. She had the freedom to leave, she chose not to.
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shelly4060 replies:
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your wrong
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linfinster says:
I hope he doesn't get paroled, ever! He needs to serve all 15 yrs.
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bwestbroker says:
The most horrifying thing about this story is this man's sentence.Is Florida different than the rest of the world? Do they actually believe it is OK to take a young under age woman and imprision her for 10 ys? Shouldn't his MINIMUM sentence be at LEAST 10ys before anyone even mentions "parole"???
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Master11323 replies:
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She wasn't imprisoned, her stay there was completely voluntary. The only reason they kept it under wraps is because it was illegal. If their relationship were legal she wouldn't have to hide, which is exactly what happened when she turned 18 he introduced her to the parents as his girlfriend. So she only did that for 4 years, and again that was completely her choice. She made a conscious effort to avoid detection because she wanted to be with him and didn't want to go home.
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trl4277 says:
YES...There is more to this story. They couldnt cram 10 yrs into 5 minutes! She was taken at 14, but when she was 18 he let her come out of the room. He had her pack some things and come in the front door like she was just coming there and moving in. She then met the parents. She was on Dr. Phil this week and it took 2 shows to tell her story. Even if she could have left somehow it doesnt change the face that at 14 she was a minor and he is eligible for parole in a few months! Doesnt seem fair!
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Master11323 replies:
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When I was 14 I didn't run off to go have sex with an older man. I don't see why I should feel sympathy for what amounts to a ****** teenager, more or less.
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Samlv says:
His sentence was far too light. He should go away until he is so old it won't matter that he got out. Or, for life.
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Overruled1 replies:
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Agreed, the hacker who hacked some movie stars' emails is facing life sentance...can you imagine that?
What is wrong with our sentancing laws?

For example of just one problem,
The 3 strikes rule has made millionaires of prison guards.
Guards before 3 strikes made an average of $14,000 yearly...a bit low but at the time manageable. Today they can take home over $100,000 yearly before overtime.
It was meant for "organized crime" not common criminals.
The law has been abused and it is time to revert it.
Master11323 replies:
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I don't think he should have went to prison at all.
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gruven13777 says:
I can believe this happened. There are psychos out there who are masters at brain-washing and manipulating others. The young girl was probably raped and beaten repeatedly if she didn't comply with his demands. The longer the abuse went on the more conditioned she became. The people in the house were probably brain-washed as well and terrified of this psycho. What I can't believe is this skumbag is up for parole next year.
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Master11323 replies:
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No, that's probably BS. It's what you WANT to believe, but not the most likely based on the facts. You WANT to believe that this guy is a monster because you are the one who has been brainwashed. Their relationship was completely voluntary. She was a ****** teenager attracted to older men, nothing more and nothing less. The reason you don't WANT to believe this is because it pops a hole in your worldview bubble. You don't want to believe that teenagers are capable of being ******.
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Lerianis4 says:
I don't understand how things like this can happen.

First of all, because pedos are damned obvious about what they are.
Secondly, because anyone who saw a man taking massive amounts of food (more than enough for one person) into their home would become suspicious.

I'll be blunt however: the solution for things like this is to stop treating pedosexuality like it is some 'deviant' sexuality. It isn't, it's as normal a sexuality as homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality, etc.
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maxinerwb replies:
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No it's not normal. You are a pervert to even think that way. Too bad I don't know where you live.
jt92202 replies:
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Lerianis4 Maybe someone should have molested you when you were 4 years old, maybe you would feel different at this point and time of your life!!!

It's not the same, with sexuality you DON'T do it with someone that isn't willing nor do you do it with someone under age! The solution is not to say it's ok the solution is to stop letting these people walk around in life with other people! I don't have the answer but I would love it if they took the guy that molested me at 4 years old and remove him from being in contact with any other child! But that didn't happen when he was caught molesting his step daughter, how many other children have been hurt by him?

If you don't know what your talking about then sit down and shut up!
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amerilatino says:
This is why I've always kept my daughters very close, thick and thin. In the good times I spent my spare cash giving them edifying experiences that I thought would last them a lifetime, in the bad times I taught them how to ride their bikes, swim and ride horses. If I had to be up 'till 3:00am because they wanted to talk, that just meant that I had to get up sleepy the next morning. I never let them forget their roots, their heritage, and I always told the boys and men who passed by their lives that if they did my girls harm, they would answer to me and it would not be easy. Now they are grown, and although I've not yet retired, when we get together for Christmas they bicker over who will get to take me home with them, I've settled it promising to spend part of the year with each of them. Give your kids the best of you, they will be an extension of you, long after you're gone.
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Redmatter replies:
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I lost my father when I was five. You Sir made me cry and wish I had the father that you are. Your girls are lucky. I wish more men were like you.
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aubfmet says:
10 years on the second floor and the parents didn't know somebody was there? Get real.
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askagain replies:
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Agreed. That is hard to swallow. Are we really expected to believe the fellow's parents didn't know there was a girl living in the house? The parents must have known but chose to ignore it. Strange what some parents do for their children.
Master11323 replies:
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That's because she was trying to hide her presence, and took careful steps to ensure that she wasn't discovered. Kinda contradicts your little narrative that she was being held against her will.
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