WASHINGTON - A man who posed as a cab driver and raped and assaulted a local college student has been sentenced to prison.

Now, the victim is speaking out about her ordeal.

Twenty-four-year-old Derik Villeda-Morales of Laurel was sentenced this week to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree rape and second-degree assault.

Last year, Villeda-Morales posed as a cabdriver and picked up a 21-year-old University of Maryland senior outside a College Park bar.

Instead of taking her home, he drove her around, punched her repeatedly, and raped her.

The now-22-year-old - who asked not to be identified - spoke with reporters Thursday about her ordeal.

"Ultimately, I thought that he was going to kill me, following the rape -- the fact that he kept driving," she says.

She finally escaped by jumping out of the moving car.

Eventually, an off-duty Prince George's County Police officer saw her waving for help along a road. She had a bloody nose, her right eye was swollen shut and was covered in bruises and road rash.

After the crime, she returned to her home in New Jersey to recuperate.

Just two weeks later, she returned to school.

"I was like, 'You know what? Those two weeks are done. I have my life back, I survived, and I'm going to...graduate and go on to do what I want to do,'" she says.

She graduated as planned, got a job and is now living on her own.

When she thinks back to her ordeal, she says, "if anything, I think it's only made me stronger."

As part of his plea agreement, Villeda-Morales has to register as a violent sex offender and stay away from the University of Maryland and businesses near the campus.

However, he is expected to be deported after serving his sentence.

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