Woman who gifted daughters calls alleged abuser a 'prophet'

June 1 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania woman testified she gave her daughters to a man accused of sexually abusing them because she considered him a prophet.

Savilla Stoltzfus testified Wednesday in Doylestown, Pa., against Lee Kaplan, who is charged with numerous counts of child rape and other child sexual abuses for allegedly assaulting six sisters between 2008 and 2016.

In testimony, Savilla Stoltzfus called Kaplan a prophet and mentor who helped her family financially as they left the local Amish community. She and her husband sent their daughters to live with Kaplan in his nearby home, beginning in 2009.

She added that she considered her daughters as "possessions" who could be given away to Kaplan. After the eldest daughter gave birth in 2013 to the first of two children, Savilla Stoltzfus moved in with Kaplan and her daughters, although she and Kaplan were not in a legal union.

In cross-examination, Savilla Stoltzfus said her relationship with Kaplan stemmed in part from her strained marriage to Daniel Stoltzfus.

The eldest daughter, now 19, said in her testimony that she and Kaplan first engaged in sex when she was 12, and she had their first child when she was 14. She told the jury of nine men and three women that it was "a joy to be with him," adding she believed Kaplan was also having sex with her sisters in the home.

Judge Jeffrey Finlay advised the jury that any alleged marriages between Kaplan and the daughters, or between Kaplan and Savilla Stoltzfus, were extralegal and not a defense against child sexual abuse allegations.

In April, Savilla Stoltzfus pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges. Daniel Stoltzfus pleaded no contest to the same charge after a more serious charge, conspiracy to commit statutory rape, was withdrawn.

Bucks County Deputy District Attorney Kate Kohler, in her opening statement Wednesday, argued that Kaplan "brainwashed" the women as he sought "power, manipulation and control of the family."

"Six children became is victims. Six children became his sex toys," Kohler said.

The trial continues on Thursday.