2 Convicted in Series of Rapes and Kidnapings Get Maximum Sentences : Court: A woman who was abducted and assaulted testifies to ‘the terror these men caused in us, the victims.’

Two men convicted of a string of abductions and sexual assaults received maximum prison sentences Wednesday during a hearing in which one defendant tearfully apologized and one of his victims said she remained haunted by the ordeal.

Paul James McDaniel, 24, of Canyon Country was sentenced by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge John S. Fisher to 55 years and eight months in prison, while Theodore Robert Conyers, 26, of Acton received a sentence of 33 years and six months in prison.

Authorities said that, during a six-month period beginning in late 1989, McDaniel and Conyers abducted at least three victims--including two girls, one 14 years old and one 15--from San Fernando Valley streets. The victims were taken to a remote Acton ranch and sexually assaulted before being returned to the areas from which they were abducted.

The two men were arrested after McDaniel gave the 15-year-old victim his phone number in the apparent belief that she might want to date him. McDaniel, a construction worker, pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including four counts of rape and three counts of kidnaping. Conyers, who was unemployed at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to nine charges, including two counts of kidnaping and two counts of rape.

“No one involved in this case can understand the terror these men caused in us, the victims,” a 31-year-old rape victim told Fisher before he sentenced the defendants. “It is not just a matter of kidnaping and rape, violent crimes . . . but a matter of not knowing if you will live or die.”

“For the rest of my life, I will do as Paul McDaniel told me to when I asked how I could prevent this from happening again. He told me, ‘Always look over your shoulder,’ ” she said.

McDaniel was the only defendant to speak during the hearing. He said he was “shocked and disgusted” by his crimes. In seeking to answer why he committed them, he said alcohol and his own low opinion of himself triggered the abduction and rape spree.

“I lost sight of who I was,” McDaniel said. “I dropped totally into the void. . . . To say I am sorry to the victims seems so inefficient. But I am sorry.”

Attorneys for the defendants asked Fisher for a moderate sentence, noting that the men had pleaded guilty, showed remorse and had no prior criminal records.

“It is a tragic situation,” said John Ponist, Conyers’ attorney. “Unfortunately, these are things that cannot be undone.”

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino said lengthy sentences were warranted because of the repetitive crimes and the anguish experienced by the victims. “They are going to live with this until the day they die,” she said.

Fisher agreed, saying the pattern of crimes showed premeditation and callousness.

“They kept going,” Fisher said. “That to me shows some deep maliciousness.”

After the hearing, Fisher strongly admonished McDaniel’s brother for improperly addressing the 31-year-old victim as he left the courtroom. Witnesses told the judge they heard the brother say the defendants might have received lighter sentences if they had actually killed the victims.

The brother, whose name was unavailable, was brought back into court by bailiffs, and he told the judge his comment had not been directed at the victim. But the victim said she heard the statement, and Fisher threatened to jail the man if he made such comments to the victims in the case again.