Upstate Man Admits To Kidnapping Amish Girls
CANTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A man convicted of sexually abusing two Amish girls in upstate New York to make pornography has pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the case.
Stephen Howells and girlfriend Nicole Vaisey were charged by federal prosecutors with coercing and sexually exploiting the girls and other children.
Both have pleaded guilty to child pornography charges, remain jailed and await sentencing.
Howells on Friday also admitted he pushed the girls into a car his girlfriend was driving.
The couple from Hermon in St. Lawrence County was accused in August 2014 abduction of 7- and 12-year-old Amish girls from their family farm stand in rural Oswegatchie, near the Canadian border.
Authorities said Howells he lured the girls with a dog.
Howells faces 25 years in prison. His girlfriend also has pleaded guilty to kidnapping.
The girls were abducted Aug. 13 of last year from their family's roadside farm stand, and were released from the couple's home the next day.
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