After the fire, [stepfather] Brian Street was charged with sexual abuse of children and possession of child pornography. Dyess, whose family history is tangled with abuse, bigamy and other troubles, sidestepped a possible sentence of life in prison on first-degree murder charges by taking the state's offer of a guilty plea on two counts of voluntary manslaughter, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson.

Tracey’s grandmother hopes the 45 year sentence will assure that Tracey receives the psychiatric care she needs, but that’s unlikely in a prison setting.

The medical director of Iowa's prison system, Dr. Edward O'Brien, said that all prisoners have access to mental health services, but that there is no program dedicated to sexual abuse victims comparable to the program for sexual predators.

O'Brien whistled when he heard about Dyess' sentence.

"That's an awfully long time," he said in a telephone interview. "Most of our women are in and out, with fairly short sentences. That young girl's going to be in here for that piece of her life? That's a really bad thing."

A “really bad thing” it is indeed. There are no heroes in this tragic story. Brian Street, at least, is unlikely to molest any more kids.

After the fire, Dyess pointed investigators to a fireproof safe in the master bedroom that contained 65 Polaroid photos of herself and her stepfather engaged in sex acts, court documents state.

Street is facing federal charges for his own misconduct.