A judge recently decided to allow two adult brothers convicted of raping their underage sister to not serve a single day in prison, despite their horrible crimes. Metro reports that 22-year-old Aaron Schartz and his younger brother 18-year-old Petie Schwartz, who are both members of a local Amish community-based in the Seymour region of Webster County, Missouri, had sexually abused their sister for many years. Their sister, who is now 13-years-old, was also impregnated by one of the men and has since given birth earlier this month. The sexual abuse did not come to light until the teen had spoken to a doctor. After learning what happened, the doctor called the local police.
During the course of their investigation, the victim recalled to investigators how not only the two older men sexually abused her but also her other two brothers had done so as well. However, her Juvenile siblings were not charged due to their age. As for her adult brothers, they were both charged on tow counts of third-degree child molestation of a child under the age of 14. When sentenced, they both originally received ten years on one count and five years on the second. Both terms were to be served at the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC). But, the sentence was eventually suspended after their attornies successfully negotiated a plea deal.
“In the end, this wasn’t a case of a parent and child, where a parent in a position of authority sexually abused or exploited their child. This was a situation where four siblings engaged in acts with their sister. I offered a 15-year prison sentence based on this … it was a different relationship. And I made the decision not to send them to the DOC, to suspend the sentences,” prosecutor Ben Berkstresser, according to Webster County Citizen.
Amish bros who raped sister, 12, spared jail over fears inmates would hurt them https://t.co/fFWPvvQcOq
— The US Sun (@TheSunUS) September 22, 2020
He added, “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. We had a previous case where a father committed sexual acts with his daughter, and he went to prison. In this instance, these two boys are very immature relative to their respective ages. Maturity wise, they are much younger than their age,” according to Metro.
This is complete garbage. No prison time for 22 year old Amish man from Seymour who pleaded guilty to molesting 15 year old relative with his brothers. https://t.co/k6BUmJ6FPJ via @springfieldNL
— Randy Alberhasky (@RandyAlberhasky) September 17, 2020
Instead, their sentence was replaced with five years of probation. The two men are also required to complete the Missouri Sex Offender Treatment Program. And they were sentenced to 100 hours of community service. The judge also ordered that they write a letter of apology to their Amish community. Both men will also be on the books as registered sex offenders for life.
“Both young men must write a letter to me, explaining how they are going to protect their children from this happening to them. They have 30 days to get this letter to me. They will go to prison if the Missouri Sex Offender Treatment Program isn’t completed in a year. This won’t be easy for either of them to do, but I’ll assure you they will face the consequences if the program isn’t completed. And that consequence will be prison,” stated Berkstresser.
The prosecutor also added that the Amish community had also decided to hand out a “very severe” punishment to both brothers. But, he did not disclose the nature of these “punishments.”
“One of the brothers is the father of this child. But within the Amish community that primarily lives in the Seymour area, (the Amish) don’t see the authority we have to do anything to them. This was a tough case to prosecute. The Amish community was cooperative yet upset. They made it clear to me that they had punished all four of the boys for their actions, and they made it clear that this punishment was very severe,” said Berkstresser, according to Webster County Citizen.
Yes microwaves are evil but this was just a mistake… sickening. https://t.co/CPqMYi8YjZ
— Nicole Hopkins (@Nicm850) September 22, 2020
Update: On Thursday, a motion was filed by a prosecutor to have the brothers’ probation revoked and instead send them to prison to serve the full term, after they had reportedly made contact with the victim (violating their plea deal), according to KY3. If this motion is sustained, then the brothers will likely in up in prison.
