12 Girls Found Inside Pennsylvania Home, Police Say They All Wore Blue Dresses; Man Arrested And Charged
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A man in Pennsylvania is facing charges such as sexual assault after police officials found 12 girls living with him, whose ages ranged from 6 months old to 18 years old.
Police officials from Bucks County, Pennsylvania arrested the man, identified as 51-year-old Lee Kaplan, on Thursday, and officials noted that the girls did not look happy and wore blue dresses.
Two of the children are allegedly fathered by Kaplan with the 18-year-old girl living with him. Accordingly, the 18-year-old is the girl that the suspect considered as his wife and they have a three-year-old and an infant child together. Officials were alerted about the matter after they received a complaint about the health and the welfare of the children living with Kaplan.
The neighbor who called the cops on Kaplan said that she decided to do so after seeing the children outside the home and were looking unhappy. She noted that she has seen them wearing the blue dresses in the past. It was unclear if any of the other children living with Kaplan have been subject to any kind of abuse, CNN reported.
No birth certificates were found in the home and no other information were found about them. However, Lower Southampton Township Police Lt. Ted Krimmel said in a statement that they believe they are all originally from the Lancaster County in the Amish community. They have contacted an expert on the Amish culture in order to help them move forward with the investigation.
Aside from Kaplan, the parents of the 18-year-old girl were also arrested. Police said that the couple gifted their then-14-year-old daughter to Kaplan in exchange for financial assistance. The 18-year-old girl had her first child when she was 14.
Kaplan has been charged with statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor. The parents of the 18-year-old, identified as Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, were charged with endangering the welfare of children. Daniel was also charged with criminal conspiracy and statutory sexual assault. The couple also claims that they are the parents of the other girls living with Kaplan.
All of them are being held on a $1 million bail. The girls are in the care of the county's social services workers. No details are available yet regarding their court appearances.
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