Victim Testifies About Being 'Gifted' After Dozen Girls Rescued From Feasterville Home
By Justin Finch and Alexandria Hoff
FEASTERVILLE, Pa. (CBS) – It has been nearly two months since a dozen young girls were rescued from a Feasterville home.
Tuesday, preliminary hearings started for all three suspects, from the man accused of having a child with a teenage girl, to the two parents accused of giving her to him.
51-year-old Lee Kaplan is facing eight felonies and two misdemeanors, including several counts of sex assault, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
Kaplan allegedly fathered two children with a now 18-year-old woman, who is the daughter of Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus of Lancaster County.
The Amish couple reportedly gifted her to Kaplan at age 14 as payment for a debt. The pair claims they are unaware that doing so is illegal.
Daniel Stoltzfus, 43, is now charged with conspiracy sex assault and child endangerment. Savilla Stoltzfus, 42, is also facing a felony child endangerment charge.
On the stand, a victim described getting to know Kaplan and the sexual relationship that began after her parents gifted her to him as a part of a business deal. She took the stand wearing a long floral dress, was very thin, very scared and appeared to be younger than 18-years-old.
She was in the Feasterville home that she shared with her nine female siblings and where she gave birth to Kaplan's two children. The defense for the family argued that the Stoltzfus' did not know the relationship would turn sexual and did not know their daughter was pregnant until she gave birth to her first child at 15-years-old.
After the mother arrived to help with the home birth, the victim says she began living with Kaplan as well.
Both parents told police that they did nothing to end the sexual relationship at that point.
At least two dozen members of the Amish community arrived via van and turned out for the hearing. The Stolzfus' left the church over a decade ago.
The tip came to Lower Southampton Police in June with a report of child abuse at Kaplan's Feasterville house.
Inside, police found 12 girls, and they are all believed to be sisters. Police did not initially find school or birth records for the children, the youngest being just six months old. Some neighbors say they were suspicious for years.
Kevin Rihl says, "Never saw them playing, never saw them get on a bus. With all that being the case, the only thing he had them outside doing was working. Something's not right." The girls have since been in the care of Bucks County social workers.
