Incest Amish brothers spared prison for raping sister, 12, now face jail after outcry
Two Amish brothers who avoided prison despite raping their 12 year-old sister could now be jailed over claims they breached their probation, amid public outcry.
Aaron Schwartz, 22, and Petie Schwartz, 18, from Seymour in Missouri, are said to have breached the terms of their probation by contacting their victim. She was also raped by her two younger brothers who prosecutors declined to charge, and left pregnant by one of her attackers.
Webster County Prosecutor Ben Berkstresster – who has faced calls to resign over the plea agreement he helped broker – has since filed a motion to have their probation revoked. He did so amid mounting fury from locals, who plan to stage a protest over the brothers’ light sentences.
Berkstresser claims they breached the terms of their sex offender supervision by contacting their sister. But the prosecutors’s critics say the terms of the sentence he agreed on allowed the rapists to move back into their old home in a close-knit Christian sect.
Its members shun modern technology in favor of an old-fashioned way of life including travel by horse and cart, with most Amish making a living from farming.
Local anti-pedophilia campaigners Tiffany Hill and Mel Pleasant, who want Berkstresser ousted, told Fox8: ‘Why would you send them back to the victim’s house in the first place? That obviously gives them the opportunity to initiate contact.’
If the brothers have their probation revoked, they face spending the next 15 years behind bars, with a hearing set to take place on October 6. It is unclear whether they have been taken into custody ahead of that court appearance.
Explaining the plea deal earlier this month, which saw the Schwartz brothers handed 10 year suspended sentences and five years probation, Berkstresser said: ‘These two young men would’ve been eaten alive in the state prison system…
‘Previously, I’ve been very harsh on the Amish when they’ve been charged with crimes of this nature… ‘In this instance, these two boys are very immature relative to their respective ages. Maturity wise, they are much younger than their age.’
Berkstresser said the local Amish community had assured him they’d inflicted ‘severe’ punishments on the rapist brothers, although no further details of this punishment were shared.
He also ordered the Schwarz brothers to write a letter apologizing for their pedophilia.
The horrific abuse inflicted by the four siblings left the youngster pregnant, with the girl giving birth to her baby earlier this month, aged just 13.
It is unclear which of her four brothers is the father of her child.
The disturbing case came to light after the girl needed to see a doctor about her pregnancy, with that doctor immediately notifying police.
During a subsequent interview, the girl said she had been sexually abused by all four of her brothers.
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