Henry Piette allegedly kidnapped and raped Rosalynn McGinnis before she was a teenager Police handout

A man who is accused of kidnapping his stepdaughter and forcing her to “marry” him has claimed he is not guilty of sexually assaulting her as she was his “wife”.

Henri Piette, 62, from Oklahoma, is accused of holding a then 11-year-old girl captive for 19 years and raping her until she escaped.

The alleged victim, Rosalynn McGinnis, now 33, has spoken out about her ordeal.

She told investigators she met Piette when she was around 10 years old when her mother began a relationship with him.

By the time she was 11, Piette had started to sexually assault her at their home in Wagoner.

Ms McGinnis told authorities Piette asked his then 15-year-old son to perform a marriage ceremony inside a van.

​He was arrested in Mexico and brought back to the US this week.

“I never raped any children,” he told Fox. “I made love to my wife. We were married.”

Piette is alleged to have kidnapped Ms McGinnis in 1997 when she was 12, and is accused of keeping her captive until she escaped last year.

According to court documents, Piette took Ms McGinnis and his other children, who he is also accused of abusing, around Oklahoma and then to Mexico.

He changed their names to avoid being tracked by the victim’s family and law enforcement.

Ms McGinnis managed to escape in 2016 and went to the US embassy for help.

Investigators say Piette has ties to Mexican and Central American criminal organisations.

He faces charges for rape, lewd molestation, and physical abuse of a child.

Federal charges against Piette have been dropped so the state can prosecute him.

Independent News Service