Man Facing Charges For Allegedly Attempting To Lure Amish Children Into Outhouse
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A man from Ellwood City is accused of trying to lure several Amish children.
Investigators said 38-year-old Lucas Klobetanz waited for the children outside their school, and tried to lure them into an outhouse on two occasions.
The first incident happened on Oct. 3, around 1 p.m.
A teacher inside of the Amish school on Route 208 in Lawrence County said she saw Klobetanz in a pickup truck siting outside the school.
Worried, the teacher brought the kids inside and locked the door.
Klobetanz allegedly went into the outhouse, stayed there for five minutes and left.
According to the criminal complaint, Klobetanz made his way down the road to nearby Mercer County at the Ligo Amish School.
Police say Klobetanz waited outside in his truck for 45 minutes while the children played outside.
Then, he allegedly went into the boy's outhouse and called for the kids to come in.
"Maybe he thinks they're more naive or something. They don't grow up with televisions and worldly things like that, but they know right from wrong," Kathy Lewis, who lives near the school, said.
Two of the kids got scared and ran to a neighbor to get help. The neighbor told police that when he confronted Klobetanz he said he needed to use the outhouse because he'd eaten some bad food and had an upset stomach.
He said he called for the kids because he'd dropped the toilet paper and wanted someone to get it for him.
"Kids want to trust adults and they want to look up to adults and it's a shame that some of them want to take advantage," Lewis said.
Klobetanz remains locked up at the Mercer County Jail on child luring charges.
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