Prosecutors said Mitchell faked mental illness to avoid prosecution A jury has convicted an itinerant street preacher of kidnapping and transporting for sex a 14-year-old girl from Utah in 2002.
Brian David Mitchell faces up to life in prison for kidnapping Elizabeth Smart.
He did not contest the facts but pleaded insanity, and frequently interrupted court proceedings with rambling songs and outbursts.
His estranged wife Wanda Barzee last year pleaded guilty to kidnapping.
Authorities say Mitchell kidnapped Ms Smart, now 23, from her parents’ home in Utah at knife point.
He had met the family when Ms Smart’s parents hired him for casual handiwork.
The couple then held her through what Ms Smart described in court as “nine months of hell” on a mountainside camp, while Mitchell forced her into a self-styled polygamous marriage and raped her daily, prosecutors said.
Ms Smart was reunited with her family after she was spotted – wearing a dark wig and a veil – in the company of Barzee and Mitchell about 10 miles (15km) from her home.
During the trial in federal court, Ms Smart testified that Mitchell was motivated by drug and alcohol use and a desire for sex, not religious fervour.
The case was delayed for years after a state court found Mitchell incompetent to stand trial. Federal prosecutors stepped in, contending Mitchell was pretending to have a mental illness in order to avoid prosecution.
As the verdict was read Mitchell sang and appeared to be praying. He is to be sentenced on 25 May, prosecutors said.
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