Wisconsin Rapids man who kidnapped and chained two men gets 50 years in prison

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The Wisconsin Rapids paper mill worker who kidnapped two young men, put them in chains at his home, and sexually-assaulted them will spend 50 years in prison.

Edward Lanphear, 47, was sentenced Wednesday.

Wood County Circuit Judge Greg Potter called Lanphear “every person’s worst nightmare,” and said he deserves a virtual life term.

If he’s alive when it’s over, he’ll spend 20 years under extended supervision. Potter accepted the prosecution’s sentencing request.

The defense asked for 20 years behind bars.

Lanphear pretended to be a police officer when he picked up a 23-year-old man on the street last July, and he took a 21-year-old from his car who was sleeping off a night of drinking.

He molested both at his rural Wisconsin Rapids home until he went out for an errand and one of the captives broke free.

One of the victims was in the courtroom for Lanphear’s sentencing, and his mother compared him to Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

But Lanphear’s attorney, Gary Kryshak, said Lanphear was not a monster, and he’s a good man who had failed relationships, depression and problems at work.

Judge Potter said Lanphear watched pornography that involved men and bondage and he thought the crimes were planned.

And the judge called Lanphear a “time bomb waiting to go off.”

Lanphear said no one deserved the terror he put his victims through but he had no plans to kill them.

Tags: wisconsin rapids, paper mill worker, sexual assault, young men, wisconsin, kidnapped, chained