PHILADELPHIA _ Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, parents of a teenage girl "gifted" to a Bucks County, Pa., man convicted of sexually abusing several of their daughters, were sentenced to up to seven years in jail Wednesday on child endangerment counts in a case that generated national attention.
Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley, who sternly lectured the couple, ordered both to undergo therapy and mental health evaluations.
Daniel Stoltzfus, 44, who pleaded no contest to the child endangerment in April, was sentenced to 3 { to seven years in prison; his wife, 43, who had entered a guilty plea, was sentenced to three to seven years.
Two of the Stoltzfus' daughters watched with somber faces as their parents were sentenced, along with an older brother who had led a delegation of 26 Amish adults and two infants into the courtroom.
A Stoltzfus daughter asked Finley to consider the children's love for their parents, saying they have "no supporting adults ... in this time of great need."
Finley admonished Daniel Stoltzfus, saying he allowed his children to become what some would call "sex slaves" and exposed them to unimaginable trauma. "You continued letting your children crawl into the bed of that man when you knew what was going on," he told Savilla forcefully.
Daniel Stoltzfus said, "I regret having to put my children through what they've been through this past year and wish to reunite with my children."
The couple had met Kaplan, now 52, at an auction, and the man helped them "transition from the Amish lifestyle" while assisting them financially, according to prosecutors. Stoltzfus then "gifted" his oldest daughter to Kaplan.
Savilla said she felt "very, very lost" when they met Kaplan. "Forgive me for the fact that I put my children at risk."
Savilla Stoltzfus had said that she had a feeling Kaplan was having sexual relations with her daughters but that "she felt like it was not her business to inquire what went on in those rooms, but knew that's what went on because Kaplan said it was God's will," prosecutors said.
Kaplan was discovered in June 2016 housing nine sisters, their mother and two children he fathered with the oldest girl in his Feasterville home.
He made the six oldest sisters his wives over a period of years, the sisters each testified. Their parents promised one of their daughters to him in marriage when she was about 7, and over time, he made it clear he would take more as his wives.
