A Pennsylvania man is facing charges after police found him living with 12 girls aged from 6 months to 18 years.
The man, 51-year-old Lee Kaplan of Bucks County was arrested on Thursday and has been charged with statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor, according to CNN.
According to the police report, one of the girls, aged 18, is the mother of a 3-year-old child and a 6-month-old child fathered by Kaplan.
“They were living down in the basement, they were hiding in the chicken coop,” said Robert Hoopes, Lower Southampton Director for Public Safety during a press conference according to 6ABC.
“They’re Amish, and they have a different way of life I would guess.”
It is yet to be determined if Kaplan sexually assaulted the remaining girls.
The girl’s parents, Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, have also been arrested after police allege they “gifted” her to Kaplan after he helped them with their financial difficulties. She was just 14 when she gave birth to her eldest child.
The Stoltzfuses reportedly claim to be the parents of all 10 of the girls, who they sent to live with Kaplan after they lost their family farm, however they are yet to provide birth certificates or social security documentation to support this.
They have been charged with endangering the welfare of children, while the father faces extra charges of criminal conspiracy and statutory sexual assault, according to official court documents.
Police have revealed they investigated Kaplan after a tip off from a neighbour who spotted a number of the girls looking “unhappy and sad”.
“I just wasn’t going to let go,” Jen Betz told 6ABC. “I saw a couple girls last week standing in the driveway. They just looked unhappy and sad … and I’ve been telling my husband for years something isn’t right, something isn’t right.”
Both Kaplan and the Stoltzfuses are being held on US$1 million bail in the Bucks County Correctional Facility.
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