Fagan, center, with his daughters Rachel, left, and Lisa

May 28, 1999
Web posted at: 2:42 p.m. EDT (1842 GMT)

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CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- A father who kidnapped his two young daughters 20 years ago, moved them to Florida, changed their names and lied that their mother was dead will not go to jail under a plea bargain deal accepted by a Massachusetts judge on Friday.

Stephen Fagan, 57, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court in suburban Boston and was sentenced to probation and a $100,000 fine.

He had been charged with two counts of kidnapping, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Fagan had been free on $250,000 bail as he sought the plea bargain.

Barbara Kurth says she did not have a drinking problem, as Fagan claims, but suffers from narcolepsy

Fagan disappeared in October of 1979 along with his daughters, then ages 2 and 5.

He hid the true identities of the girls and himself and over the past two decades posed as a law professor, a psychiatrist and a CIA agent.

Fagan maintains that he was trying to protect the girls from their mother, Barbara Kurth -- his then-wife -- who denies his claim she was a neglectful alcoholic.

Kurth has said she only appeared to be drunk because she suffered from narcolepsy, a condition that causes a frequent and uncontrollable desire for sleep.

She says said Fagan knew about her medical condition.

Kurth is now a biologist at the University of Virginia.

Prior to Fagan's court appearance on Friday, she had said she planned to be in the courtroom, hoping the plea agreement will facilitate a reunion with her now-grown daughters.

Rachel, left, and Lisa Martin refuse to have contact with their mother, Barbara Kurth

"My only true wish is that they will come someday to realize, that I have always loved them, and that I always will," Kurth has said.

Her daughters, raised as Rachel and Lisa Martin, were told by Fagan that she died in a car accident. The daughters, both in their 20s, have refused to have any contact with their mother.

"I have to judge the facts based on the man I know. The man who made me feel secure, happy, and important," Rachel Martin has said about the charges against her father.

"I firmly believe what happened with my sister and I (in 1979) happened for a good reason. My dad wanted us to be safe, to grow up happy, healthy, and strong," Lisa Martin has said.

While hiding out in Florida, Fagan re-invented himself, taking the name Dr. William Martin.

He married into a wealthy family and lived in a Palm Beach mansion until his arrest last year after a relative tipped off authorities.

Friday's successful plea bargain was Fagan's second attempt. The judge rejected a proposed settlement in February as too lenient.

Boston Bureau Chief Bill Delaney contributed to this report.

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