Ed Smart, father of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart, talks to reporters outside federal court following a hearing for Wanda Barzee, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Barzee plead guilty to kidnapping and illegal transportation of a minor across state lines for the 2002 kidnapping of Smart with her partner Brian David Mitchell.
Smart, now 22 and preparing to serve a mission in Paris for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was not in court to hear the apology. But her father, Ed Smart, said outside court that forgiveness was possible.
"Absolutely," he said. "We all make mistakes in life ... and if we can't forgive each other, heaven help us."
During the hearing, he said he hoped Barzee realized what she did was "absolutely wrong and absolutely horrible."
Smart was 14 when she was taken from the bedroom of her Salt Lake City home, sparking a search that riveted the nation. Nine months later, in March 2003, Barzee and her now-estranged husband Brian David Mitchell were arrested after they were spotted walking on a suburban street with Smart.
Elizabeth Smart has said that within hours of the abduction, Mitchell took her as a polygamous wife then raped her. Smart said Barzee washed the teen's feet and dressed her in robes before the ceremony.
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