KITCHENER -- A Kitchener, Ont. woman was sentenced Thursday morning to four years in prison for kidnapping, torturing and prostituting a teenage girl.

Lindsay Rye, 20, pleaded guilty at the end of the January to several charges, including assault and making child pornography as she took part in a prostitution ring.

"The facts are so bad. It's basically denunciation, you can't get around the facts in a case like this," her defence lawyer, Hal Mattson, told CTV Kitchener after the sentencing.

"No matter how much the person is a good person, she made a huge mistake that resulted in very serious matters happening. You can't get around that."

During the submissions, the Crown noted that Rye was cold and calculating in her acts.

The agreed statement of facts from January stated that Rye kidnapped a 15-year-old, who Rye accused of stealing money. Rye, two men and another teen tortured the victim, who was also raped.

Court had heard that Rye schemed to enslave the victim to get the money back. She advertised the victim's sexual services and drove the teen to meet with men.

It was during a last visit to a London hotel, court heard, that the 15-year-old victim escaped to call her mother.

Mattson said that the Rye was a victim herself as a teenager caught up in the sex trade; the incident with the 15-year-old had happened right after Rye turned 18.

"They get into this lifestyle and they're making thousands of dollars a week, and they're going to parties and people are taking them in limos places and they're showing them respect actually. Because they're young, they think these people love them. They don't love them, they're using them," he said.

"So it's difficult to get out of when you go home and your parents tell you to wash the dishes or be in bed by 9 o' clock. Like the judge said, when you're young like that, the lifestyle can seem like a lot of fun and it's really hard to get out of unless you have unbelievable support at home."

Rye apologized in court on Thursday. Because of public health measures put in place in the courtrooms due to COVID-19, including several pieces of Plexiglas between her and the judge, Mattson had to repeat Rye's apology so the judge could hear it.

Originally set to be sentenced in April, Rye's sentencing was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sentencing on Thursday came as part of a joint submission by the defense and the Crown.