April 7 (UPI) — The Pennsylvania parents of nine girls pleaded guilty and no contest to charges they gave some of their daughters as gifts to a man.
The mother, Savilla Stoltzfus, 43, pleaded guilty to child endangerment Thursday in a Bucks County, Pa., court. The father, Daniel Stoltzfus, 44, pleaded no contest to the same charge after a more serious charge, conspiracy to commit statutory rape, was withdrawn. They were accused of giving a daughter as a gift to a man who befriended them, Lee Kaplan.
Kaplan, the owner of the Feasterville, Pa., home in which the family resided, faces multiple counts of child rape and similar charges. He is accused of sexually abusing six of the girls and fathering two children with the eldest.
Prosecutors said Kaplan assisted the family and financially supported them as they withdrew from the Amish faith and lifestyle. In return, Kaplan was given several of the Stoltzfus daughters as gifts by the parents. Court testimony indicated Daniel Stoltzfus also offered his wife to Kaplan for sex, hoping that any resulting children would “strengthen” the Stoltzfus bloodline.
A report by the Bucks County District Attorney said, “Kaplan is accused of taking the Stoltzfuses’ eldest daughter, 14 at the time, as his wife. He raped her repeatedly over a series of years, causing her to give birth to two children. In entering their pleas, the Stoltzfuses acknowledged that they knew Kaplan was having sex with their eldest daughter while she was a minor.”
Eleven Kaplan or Stoltzfus offspring, all female, were residing in the home owned by Kaplan when police and social workers began an investigation in June.
