PHILADELPHIA _ Lee Kaplan, convicted of sexually assaulting six underage sisters over a period of years as he lured an entire family into a cultlike pseudo-religion, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 to 87 years in prison.
As the defendant listened and occasionally rolled his neck, Bucks County Judge Jeffrey L. Finley told Kaplan he had warped the children's minds and committed "horrific acts" against them.
"Corrupt, perverted, atrocious _ use what adjective you'd like to use," Finley said of Kaplan's years-long sexual contact with the girls.
The defendant didn't apologize or deny the crimes, but said only: "I honestly believe no matter what I said or how true it was, the way of media, public opinion, politics, is too great to bother argument."
To which the judge replied: "While you may believe or have me believe that that was just a natural development of a relationship, well, I'm sorry, not in this society."
Kaplan, 52, was convicted in June on 17 counts of child sexual assault for abusing the six oldest daughters of Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, the incidents beginning in 2008 and continuing until June 2016, when a neighbor's tip to the state child abuse hotline led child welfare workers and police to knock on Kaplan's door.
The shocking case drew national attention. In a five-day trial in June, all of the sisters and more than a dozen other witnesses testified about Kaplan's isolated home, the strange beliefs he taught the Stoltzfuses, and what happened when the girls were alone with him.
Starting with the oldest, Kaplan had taken all six girls as his "wives," teaching them that it was a wife's duty to have sexual relations with her husband. For two of the girls, inappropriate contact from Kaplan began at just 7 years old. And he had two children by the oldest daughter, now 19, who first gave birth at 14.
Kaplan has denied any wrongdoing. Hyde had argued during the trial that Kaplan had been taken advantage of by the Stoltzfus family and that the so-called marriages had been legitimate in their eyes, if unconventional in society's view.
The Stoltzfuses, who have 14 children in total and allowed all 10 of their daughters except one to move in with Kaplan, were both sentenced to up to seven years in prison in July for child endangerment. Daniel Stoltzfus, 44, pleaded no contest. His wife, Savilla, 43, pleaded guilty and testified at Kaplan's trial after also persuading her children, who had denied that Kaplan had sex with them, to tell authorities about their life in Kaplan's home. The couple met Kaplan in 2002, and he aided them over the years as they left their Amish community, faced financial troubles, and lost their home.
The six girls, now 9 to 19 years old, were placed in a group home with their other underage siblings (Kaplan's two children are there with their mother) and have been integrating into society under the supervision of child services workers.
At their parents' sentencing, the second-oldest pleaded with the judge to be lenient, saying the girls needed their mother and father. (Individual and family counseling will be part of both adults' sentences before any potential reunion with their children.)
Kaplan's home was boarded up, sparsely furnished _ Kaplan had the only bed _ and filled with food and supplies. They grew crops, raised catfish and bees, ran Kaplan's model train business _ and never needed to leave the home. Kaplan regularly brought the girls into his bedroom, in turns, and told them not to tell anyone. They did not have any toiletries in the home or know how to wash their hair. They had been educated by Kaplan, their mother, and using books and the internet; they all know how to play various musical instruments.
Although they testified about the abuse, the girls said they loved Kaplan and had been happy in his home.
"I feel like I trust him well enough that if he told me to do something, it would be for the better," said the 15-year-old at the trial.
The girls now have jobs, attended summer camps, and are enrolled in cyber school. Prosecutors have said they are adjusting well to their new life.
