'Cult leader', 52, who had two children with 14-year-old girl after her Amish parents gave her to him as a 'gift' is charged with abusing her FIVE younger sisters who thought he was a 'prophet from God'

Daily Mail, UK/October 31, 2016

By Jennifer Smith

A self-styled cult leader raped six sisters aged between eight and 18 for years after brainwashing them into thinking they were his wives and that he was a prophet from God, prosecutors allege. 

Lee Kaplan is facing a slew of child sex offences for taking the girls off the hands of their Amish parents and keeping them in his own house in Feastverville, Pennsylvania. 

He was arrested in June after the eldest sister, now 18, told police she had given birth to two of his children. 

Her parents, Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus were also arrested. It was claimed they had given Kaplan their daughter to buy their way out of money they owed him. 

All of the girls were found cowering in chicken coops and in the basement of his home in June. 

They are thought to have been being home-schooled by Kaplan and were all dressed in Amish clothing when police found them.   

On Monday, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub brought fresh charges against Kaplan after interviewing the other sisters. 

They told him how Kaplan brainwashed all six of them into thinking they were his wives and how he anally raped them both at his house and at their parents' home. 

He had a bedroom in their family home where he slept with one of the girls while he was naked and trained the girls into giving him the affectionate nickname 'Lave'. 

The sisters told police how she alongside her five other sisters all considered themselves his wives. 

'Sister victim two's understanding of how this came about was that Kaplan felt that it was in the children's best interests to become his wives.

'Kaplan would have "dreams" about them becoming his wives and he stated that this was what God wanted,' his most recent charge sheet said. 

The girls were taken from their parents' home to live with Kaplan as repayment for financial help he had given the family at different times and ages. 

Their mother lived with them at one point in Kaplan's home too. The eldest is believed to have suffered the longest stint of abuse.

She began living with him when she was ten and is now 18. During those eight years he impregnated her twice. She now has two children with him who are aged three and six. 

The pair are first believed to have had sex when she was 12 but she had earlier slept with him in a bedroom he kept in her parents' home when she was 10. 

'Kaplan would frequently be naked with her in his bed and he would rub his genitalia, which he called his d***, on her vagina until "wet stuff" came out,' the affidavit listing his charges read. 

He began anally raping her when she was 13, she said and performed oral sex on her when she was 10.  

The second oldest girl is now 17. She was promised to Kaplan in marriage by her parents when she was 'seven or eight' but he did not begin abusing her until she was 14 - after the pair had 'married', police said. 

'She explained that "consummation" was accomplished by Kaplan penetrating her "front hole" with his "private part". 

He went on to have sex with her 'once a month' for three years, it added.  

The other sisters range in age from 15 to eight. Some suffered at his hands from the age of six, said police.

The fourth sister, who is now 13, said she was first abused by him when she was 10.  

He referred to her vagina as her 'birth hole' and to his semen as his 'seed', she told police. He also began asking her to massage his penis when she was 10, she said. 

The youngest victim, who is eight, said he took her into his bedroom after her 8th birthday. She referred to his penis as his 'nakedness' in a police interview and said he had told her that he was putting it into 'the hole where poop comes out'.  

Five other children were found living at Kaplan's home but are not involved in the case. Two of them are the children he fathered with the eldest sister.

Most of the sisters still think affectionately of their captor, said Weintraub on Monday as he deplored the allegations as 'unspeakable'. 

'The young ladies probably still share some feelings for this man because he has had them at his beck and call for many years. 

'What we've hopefully managed to do is gain their trust and put an end to his reign of terror. 

'These are unspeakable acts. They will be vigorously prosecuted to the most serious extent that the law allows,' he added. 

The girls' parents are as yet not facing any additional charges, given their original charge of endangering children applied to all of the youngsters in their care. 

All of the children have been removed from Kaplan's home and are still living together in a safe house. 

Kaplan's bail was raised from $1million ten per cent to $1million cash.  If convicted of all the charges he faces, he will die in prison. 

'It saddens me and it sickens me. This man obviously groomed these children for a long time and for an explicit purpose. 

'If we're successful, he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison,' Weintraub concluded. 

In August, members of the Amish community attended Kaplan's preliminary hearing en masse.

He said nothing during the proceedings except to interject that the 18-year-old sister, who was giving evidence, would not know what the word chaperon meant.