Man convicted of raping six sisters

Lee Donald Kaplan arrested last year when police raided his home. Photo / AP

A self-styled cult leader has been convicted of raping six sisters aged between 8 and 18 over several years, and even fathering two children by one of them.

Lee Donald Kaplan, 52, was convicted by a jury on all 17 counts of child rape, sexual assault and other offences in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.

Kaplan's conviction came a year after police raided his home in June 2016, after receiving a complaint about the health and safety of numerous children in the home.

He was arrested after the eldest sister, now aged 18, told police she had given birth to two of his children - the first when she was just 14.

When police raided Kaplan's home, they found the six girls he is accused of assaulting, three of their other sisters, their mother and the two children he fathered with one of the girls.

The girls' parents, Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus, had allegedly "gifted" some of their daughters to Kaplan because he helped them financially when they wanted to leave their Amish community.

He was accused of brainwashing the girls into thinking they were his wives and that he was a prophet from God.

Kaplan met the family in 2002 when the family wanted to leave the Amish faith but needed the money to do so. He offered to help them financially and began spending nights at their family home.

He allegedly started abusing the family's two oldest girls, then 7 and 8, when he invited them into his bed.

The parents allegedly promised one of their daughters to Kaplan in marriage when she was just 7.

But by 2016, all of the Stoltzfus sisters were living with Kaplan and he was having sex with six of them.

Several of the girls testified last week during Kaplan's trial that they considered him to be their husband.

A 9-year-old girl testified that Kaplan began molesting her when she was 7 and the defendant told her not to tell anyone.

Her 15-year-old sister said Kaplan began having sexual contact with her when she was 11 or 12. She said she believed that's what husbands and wives do.

The mother of the girls told the court she knew about the sexual activity but believed it "could be a good thing".

Bucks County Children and Youth supervisor Stacy Roach testified on Friday that after Kaplan's arrest, the girls were taken to a doctor for the first time in their lives.

Doctors diagnosed three of the girls with Lyme disease and five of the girls needed to have a number of teeth removed.

"They had to be shown a video of how to wash long hair," Roach said.

"It was obvious with the amount of dental work they needed that they probably didn't brush their teeth."

After Kaplan's arrest, the girls were put into foster care. They were enrolled in an online school and now have Social Security numbers and birth certificates.

A sentencing date for Kaplan hasn't been set.

Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus are awaiting sentencing on child endangerment convictions.