The adoptive mother of a San Antonio girl who secretly gave birth to a child they claimed was a “miracle girl” who could cure cancer has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for her role in sexual abuse which resulted in three births.

San Entonio Express-News reports that Laura Castillo pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual assault in connection to the ongoing abuse of her daughter.

Laura Castillo and her husband Eusebio had been accused of abusing their adopted daughter, now 28, for 15 years — forcing her to have threesomes and act as a surrogate for her adoptive parents. Abigail Alvarado gave birth to three children during this time, which the Castillos passed off as their own — reportedly claiming that one of the children was a so-called “Miracle” child who could cure cancer, according to the Daily Mail. 

Investigators reportedly began investigating the couple after Abigail came forward in 2014 to report the abuse, which she says began at age 9. She chose to identity herself and shared her story with the San Antonio Express-News.

Eusebio Castillo is still awaiting trial. According to a report in San Antonio Express-News, Abigail claims he emotionally manipulated her for years along with the sexual abuse, and threatened to kill himself if she ever reported it to authorities.

According to the report, the three children Alvarado was forced to bear reportedly believed that she was their sister.

When one of the children was 8 years old, the Castillos reportedly hosted weekly events at a chapel they built on their property, where locals would flock to visit the girl the Castillos claimed could cure cancer.

“They were such good actors,” John Parnell, an archbishop of an obscure branch of the Catholic church, who co-founded the chapel with the Catillos, told the newspaper.

“All the deception to try to make some money. I was so sad for such a long time about those kids being used the way they were. It made me not believe in people. I lost a lot of my faith in people.”

Thought it’s been difficult for Alvarado to relive the trauma of the abuse during the trial, she is determined to see that her abusers pay for their horrific crimes.

“I was very emotional for the justice I’m getting,” Alvarado told the San Antonio Express.