Man Charged With Raping Girl Who Was Gifted To Him

A Pennsylvania man was arrested for sexually assaulting an underage girl who was supposedly gifted to him by her parents.

The former Amish couple were having financial troubles and asked 52-year-old Lee Kaplan for assistance, police said. They then gave him their 14-year-old daughter as a form of “payment,” according to the Bucks County Courier Times.

The girl, now 18, told authorities that Kaplan is the father of her two children, ages 6 months and 3 years.

When police were called to Kaplan’s home due to a complaint made by neighbor Jen Bets about the health and well-being of the children living there, they found 12 girls inside, ranging in age from 6 months to 18 years old.

The two children Kaplan fathered with the girl were present at the address.

“It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing,” Bets told WCAU. “There were signs.”

“[She was] too young to be the wife, too old to be holding his hand,” Bets said of seeing Kaplan walking down the street with the girls.

All of the underage children have been placed in child protective services.

“The conditions in the house were fine,” Lower Southampton Detective Sgt. Shane Hearn said, according to the Courier Times. “They were not undernourished. Kaplan has a farm there and chickens running all over the place. I guess they were living off the land.”

Bets condemned the police for taking too long to respond to her calls to visit Kaplan’s home.

“It took too long,” she said, WCAU reports. “I just want them to get help and get back and be happy. They’re so sad and fearful every time I see them. That’s what made me call.”

Kaplan is charged with statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault on a person younger than 16, corruption of minors, and contact with a minor involving sexual offenses, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. 

He is being held at Bucks County prison on a $1 million bond.

“I wanted [Kaplan] off the street despite the fact he told me he loved the children,” Lower Southampton district judge John Waltman said.

The girl’s parents, who claim all of the children living in Kaplan’s home are theirs, were apprehended on child endangerment charges. Their bail is also set at $1 million.

Police have not found any identifying documents for any of the girls, WCAU reports.

“We are still investigating that. Bucks County is investigating that along with other agencies to help identify their genealogy and who their parents actually are,” Lower Southampton Lt. John Krimmel said.

It is unknown how long the children were living with Kaplan.

Sources: Bucks County Courier Times, WCAU / Photo credit: Bucks County Correctional Facility via​ Bucks County Courier Times