Alexis Wright, 30, the "Zumba prostitute" was recently convicted of using her Maine fitness studio as a prostitution front. She spoke tearfully in her sentencing of childhood abuse.

Alexis Wright, 30, was sentenced to 10 months in jail for 20 counts including prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception for the Zumba prostitution ring. Her husband says that she was abused by her business partner and that he had to keep her from hurting herself daily from remorse over her actions.

"I'm a person who knows the difference between right and wrong and because of this reason I chose to take the time in jail and take responsibility for my actions," said Wright during sentencing while sobbing. "Those actions were not taken because I wanted to do it. I did not feel like I was in a position to choose," she said.

Jayson Trowbridge, Wright's husband, told the court he would often come home to find Alexis close to harming herself. "Every day I anticipated that that morning would be the last time I would ever see Alexis," he wrote in his testimony.

In the morning, he says, she would wake at 5:30 and shower, then "I would give her about 20 minutes before I would enter the bathroom. Ten minutes to allow her to shower and an additional 10 minutes for crying."

"I would get calls from her in tears," he said. "I would go to her in the afternoon and once again, I would have to pull her from the shower similar to [our] morning routine. But this time I would pull her from a scalding hot shower and prevent her from scrubbing her body clean until she bled or burned."

The tourist beach town of Kennebunk, Maine was  rocked by the scandal. Wright had at least 150 clients, several of whom were prominent in the town. They include a former mayor, a minister, a lawyer, a high school hockey coach, and a firefighter.

Wright and her business partner, Mark Strong, communicated by text message, email, and Skype-he was 100 miles away. He helped her schedule clients and scanned license plates for security. There was a live video feed of sex acts streamed to him.  The defense says that he manipulated and abused her. They pointed out that childhood abuse from her father made Wright vulnerable to Strong. Wright's father sexually abused and kidnapped her when she was 8 or 9, taking her across the country before authorities caught him.

Wright's lawyer said that she met Strong while working as an exotic dancer in order to pay to y her way through the University of Southern Maine.

"She meets an older man and over a period of years is taken in by him first as a model, then as part of his private investigation firm and is told a story, which she all too readily believes, about how she is an operative working for the state to investigate all manner of sexual deviants," the attorney wrote.

"At first this seems too farfetched for anyone to believe," the report continued. "Nevertheless text messages between Ms. Wright and Mark Strong Sr. bear it out."

"I've never asked her to say 'sorry' but she does all the time," Trowbridge said. "I will never accept her apology because I feel that she doesn't owe me one. I stood by my wife when I first discovered her nightmare and I continue to stand by her today. The fact that I chose to marry her after learning of her situation isn't simply based on love. It is a testament to the true person she is and the real person I know. My vow of marriage was a choice to stand up for her when she couldn't find the strength to stand up for herself."

Trowbridge wrote that Wright was an "extraordinary mother" despite the trying circumstances and that she wants to go back to school to get a master's degree when she leaves prison.

Wright told the court that she wants to help other victims of sex abuse when she gets out of jail. "Now that I have the strength, I want to encourage the others to come forward," she said. She spoke of being relieved when Strong, who served a one-month prison term related to the case, was arrested. "I would never wish this life I had on even my worst enemies. I survived and I never have to go back."

Wright and her business partner made almost $150,000 tax-free while Wright was collecting welfare benefits. She kept detailed records and videotaped clients without their knowledge, which later aided investigators in their prosecution. She will have to pay $57,280 in restitution.