howells vaisey

Stephen Howells II and Nicole Vaisey are seen in a photo together. They are charged with kidnapping two Amish girls in northern New York. More charges are pending.

(Provided Photo )

CANTON, N.Y. -- The St. Lawrence County woman accused of helping her boyfriend kidnap two Amish girls studied the psychology of rape as a college student.

Nicole Vaisey was a senior psychology major at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. in 2011 when she published research about the effects of watching pornography on attitudes toward rape.

Vaisey's hypothesis was that participants who saw sexually suggestive images would blame the victims more than those who had not.

Vaisey, 25, and Stephen M. Howells II, 39, of 1380 county Route 21 in Hermon, are both charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping. Not guilty pleas have been entered on their behalf. More charges may be filed, according to the prosecutor.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain has said the girls, ages 7 and 12, were sexually assaulted during their 24 hours in captivity.

Vaisey and Howells are accused of kidnapping the girls from a roadside vegetable stand and taking them to their home, about 16 miles away, in rural northern New York.

Neither Howells nor Vaisey had previously been arrested. The couple met online about a year and a half ago, according to a source familiar with their relationship.

Howells, a father of three, worked as a registered nurse at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg. Vaisey most recently worked a couple days a week as a dog groomer.

During her senior year at Mercyhurst College, Vaisey received a $1,500 Psi Chi undergraduate research grant to help defray the cost of her research, according to The Merciad Mercyhurst University newspaper. Vaisey was president of the Mercyhurst chapter of Psi Chi at the time, as well as a member of the Mercyhurst Psychology Club and the Mercyhurst Active Minds chapter, the newspaper reported.

"I enjoy studying social psychology the most because I am fascinated by the way that people interact with each other and society as a whole and how they function as an individual in a group," Vaisey told the college newspaper.

Vaisey graduated with honors from Mercyhurst College's psychology undergraduate program, a family member said.

Vaisey told the college newspaper she planned to take a short break from her studies after graduation, but eventually attend graduate school and become psychology professor.

After college, a source familiar with Vaisey said she worked as a substitute teacher at a day care center, then she worked at L.E.A.P. (Living: Exploring All Possibilities) that serves developmentally disabled individuals in St. Lawrence County. Then, while living with Howells, Vaisey worked twice a week as a dog groomer at Bows & Bandanas Pet Salon and Resort, the source said.

A lawyer for Vaisey, Bradford C. Riendeau, told The New York Times that he planned to argue in court that Vaisey was in an abusive and submissive relationship with Howells, and that Vaisey was not the lead person in the kidnapping.

"She appears to have been the slave and he was the master," Riendeau told The Times.

Rain has said Vaisey and Howells acted together, and did not characterize Vaisey as an unwilling participant.

"We are confident that she was equally involved in the allegations as he was," Rain has said.

Neither the prosecutor nor defense lawyer could be reached for comment Sunday evening.