Man gifted with teen faces rape raps
NEW YORK CITY—Authorities in Pennsylvania have charged a man with raping a teenage girl with whom he fathered two children after receiving her as a “gift” from her parents.
Police arrested Lee Kaplan, 51, in the town of Feasterville—around 30 kilometers northeast of Philadelphia—on Thursday on charges including statutory sexual assault and corruption of a minor, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The teen’s parents and her nine sisters also lived in Kaplan’s home. The 18-year-old teen was the oldest among her siblings.
Child welfare authorities removed the young mother, her two young daughters and her nine sisters.
The victim’s parents, Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, gave her to Kaplan four years ago in gratitude “for helping [the] family out of financial ruin,” according to criminal complaints.
She was 14 years old at the time. Her two children are 3 years old and 6 months old.
Parents arrested
Her parents have also been arrested. They and Kaplan are being held on $1-million bail each.
The Stoltzfuses told police they were going to lose their farm until Kaplan “comes along and gives them money somehow,” said Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler.
The teen previously lived in an Amish town in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with her parents and siblings before the family was kicked out of the community for unknown reasons.
Although Kaplan and the 18-yearold were not married, they acted as husband and wife, officials said.
The girls rarely went outside, neighbors told local media.
Anonymous call
The authorities said an anonymous phone call had tipped them off.
Local media identified the caller as Jen Betz, a neighbor. She told television station WPVI she had seen several young girls living in the home all wearing blue dresses and appearing afraid.
Suspicious neighbors had complained about the home three years ago, according to a local television station.
“I really can’t believe it, because I really thought it was his own daughter,” another neighbor told the station.