Additional Charges for Bucks County Man Who Was “Gifted” Teen Girls

Lee Kaplan, front in yellow, and Daniel Stoltzfus, back in yellow, are led to a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016.

Amid a series of updates in a child abuse case that has gained national attention, Lee Kaplan of Feasterville, Bucks County, has been charged with with counts of statutory sexual assault and the rape of children today by officials who allege he sexually abused six of the 12 girls he held in his Bucks County home.

Kaplan’s case first gained attention in June, when officials discovered that two parents, Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, had “gifted” Kaplan their nine daughters, apparently as a favor for financial help. They were arrested and charged with child endangerment that month.

In a press conference today, Bucks County district attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said Kaplan, 51, “groomed” the girls “to believe he was a religious cult-like figure” and a “prophet from God,” according to the Inquirer. The oldest daughter, who was 14 when her parents “gifted” her, testified that Kaplan began sexually abusing her when she first moved in. By 18, she had had two children with him.

At the time of Kaplan’s arrest, the other daughters had told police that he had not abused them. Now, officials say the youngest victim was just six years old when Kaplan began sexually abusing her, according to the Inquirer. Weintraub said the oldest daughter and her five siblings considered themselves wives of Kaplan, who told them that “this was what God wanted,” the second-oldest sister said to police, according to an affidavit obtained by the newspaper.

The girls are now together and safe, according to officials. Kaplan and the Stoltzfuses remain in prison. Kaplan’s bail is set at $1 million.

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