MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man is sentenced to 28 years in prison for prostituting, beating and sexually assaulting teenage girls.

Forty-year-old Arthur Chappell was retried on appeal and convicted of sex trafficking of a minor, conspiracy to produce child pornography and a host of other charges.

Prosecutors say Chappell is “cold and calculating liar and a manipulative and controlling sexual predator” His defense says the girls and women who worked for him did so freely and that Chappell has changed his ways and is now a man of the cloth.

Authorities say Chappell promoted his prostitution operation on Craigslist and Backpage websites. The Star Tribune reports the government also alleged that between August of 2006 and mid-2007, Chappell persuaded other women to travel out of state to engage in prostitution.