Rusty Allen Pugh, 50, of La Pine listens to testimony during his sentencing Wednesday in the courtroom of Deschutes County Circuit Judge Alycia Sykora. Pugh was sentenced to 91 years in prison for a pattern of abuse inflicted on three girls.

A La Pine man described as a child predator unlike any other was sentenced Wednesday to 91 years in prison.

In an emotional two-hour hearing in Deschutes County Circuit Court, Rusty Allen Pugh, 50, was sentenced for a pattern of abuse inflicted on three girls that was as horrific as it was routine.

Pugh was charged in 2019 with more than 90 counts of child sex abuse involving six alleged victims. Prior to his trial in January, prosecutors severed from his indictment charges related to three of the six victims.

Pugh’s trial was held at the Deschutes County fairgrounds from Jan. 25 to Feb. 18, with the jury ultimately finding him guilty of 17 felonies, including first-degree rape, first-degree sex abuse, first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and first-degree sodomy.

Prosecutors have said Pugh will face trial for the allegations of the other three alleged victims at a later date in Deschutes County.

During Pugh’s trial, victims testified that the abuse took place in Pugh’s various homes in Deschutes County, and many places in between — on the side of the road on trips to and from Portland, and on camping trips, where one of his victims was forced to share a tent with him.

“I was only a sex toy to Rusty,” one victim said Wednesday.

She described how at 12, she started experiencing sharp pains in her abdomen. She remembers Pugh cried when the doctors told him she was pregnant.

“I truly believe he was crying over the thought of going to jail,” she said.

When word got out the girl was pregnant, she became a pariah at school, called a “whore” by classmates and relatives, not allowed to have friends over, male or female, she testified.

“I was punished for my so-called ‘sexual activities’ for years to come,” she said.

The pregnancy ultimately resulted in a painful miscarriage, something she testified she hardly understood.

“Looking back, I recall him occasionally admitting to his crimes during the daylight,” she said. “I was both hurt and ashamed. I tried to pretend it was a nightmare.”

The case has its roots in 2009, when state child welfare authorities began looking closer at Pugh’s past.

Though he had no prior criminal record as an adult, Pugh was incarcerated in MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn for sodomy and sex abuse. In 1987, he reportedly told an evaluator in the juvenile justice system he’d initiated sexual contact with 17 children, both boys and girls, aged 3 to 11.

Pugh was living in La Pine at the time of his arrest in 2019. Investigators learned Pugh had routinely downplayed and lied about his juvenile criminal record involving sexual abuse, taking advantage of the fact his criminal record from that era is largely sealed. One victim testified she was sexually abused by Pugh numerous times as a child. One instance was labeled in Pugh’s indictment as “footy pajamas,” because the woman clearly recalled the footed pajamas she wore that night.

“It’s impacted how close I get to people,” she testified. “I don’t really let people in very often. It’s definitely impacted my sex life, that’s for sure. I would definitely say the biggest thing its impacted is how I raise my kids.”

The third woman testified she was abused multiple times by Pugh between the ages of 3 and 6. She recalled him telling her, “This is how you show people you love them.”

“It gave me a twisted reality of love,” she testified. “For a good chunk of my life, I was convinced that if you wanted to show someone you loved them, you had to do things with them — sexual things with them — and that ruined a lot of relationships for me.”

At sentencing, the state requested Pugh serve 91 years, while his defense asked for 16 years.

Prosecutor Stacy Neil contended Pugh is a danger to children and unlikely to be reformed.

“One of the scariest individuals is someone who cannot relate to a child without making it sexual,” Neil said.

Defense attorney Nicholas Patterson asked the judge to allow Pugh “some shot at redemption” by considering his difficult background and state’s lack of support for Pugh as a child.

“He should be given the opportunity to engage in the treatment that he would have engaged in had the juvenile system not concluded that he’s a ‘tough case,’ and washed their hands of him,” Patterson said.

Earlier in the hearing, Patterson called to the witness stand a private investigator, Bernard Brown, who said he reviewed more than 1,000 child welfare and juvenile justice records from Pugh’s childhood. According to Brown, Pugh suffered “incredible” sexual and physical trauma from adult relatives and in the foster system.

Pugh wet the bed nightly, and in the mornings, his irate father would rub Pugh’s nose in it. He’d go to school smelling like urine, which led to kids teasing him.

“He sought physical nurturing,” Brown said. “The reports were he knew two things, sex and aggressiveness.”

Judge Alycia Sykora, who presided over Pugh’s trial, ultimately sided with the state’s recommendation.

“To the survivors, the jury heard you, and everyone believed you,” she said.

During her statement to the court, the victim Pugh impregnated addressed him directly.

“I have removed every piece of you from my life, but I will never forget the pain and suffering you have caused,” she said. “This is goodbye forever.”