More sex assault charges filed against man found with 12 Amish girls

Allen Cone

Lee Kaplan, 51, was arrested after 12 girls were found living in his house in Feasterville, Pa. He has been charges with statutory sexual assault of six victims. Photo courtesy of Lower Southhampton Police Department

Additional sexual abuse charges were filed Monday against a Pennsylvania man found living with 12 Amish girls.

Lee Kaplan, 51, faces 15 additional charges of statutory sexual assault and the rape of five new victims, according to Buck County prosecutors. Originally, he was charged with statutory rape in the impregnation of a teenager allegedly "gifted" to him by her parents.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Nov. 15 for Kaplan, who is being held on $2 million bail.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said it has been difficult to get the girls to open up to investigators because Kaplan got them to believe he was a prophet from God.

"It saddens me and it sickens me," he said. "This man obviously groomed these children for a long time for a very explicit and horrible purpose."

The girls range in age from 8 to 18 with the youngest 6 when the offenses started occurring, police allege.

In June, 10 sisters, an infant and a 3-year-old belonging to the oldest woman, now 18, were discovered in Kaplan's Feasterville home. The sisters' parents, Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, face child endangerment charges and remain jailed on $1 million bail each.

The Stoltzfuses told authorities that they had "gifted" their oldest daughter, then 14, to Kaplan in 2012 as thanks for helping them financially. In August, the daughter testified he immediately began having sex with her and by 17 had two children with him.

Six of the sisters were considered his wives, according to the affidavit released Monday.

Police say Kaplan confessed to fathering two children with one of the girls.

The girls were taken to a safe house by child protection authorities in Lancaster County.