An Amish bishop in Lancaster County was arraigned Wednesday on charges of failing to report to law-enforcement authorities that a church member allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting three girls.
Pequea Township police allege that Levi S. Esh Sr., 63, failed to report a church member’s confessed sexual assaults on three girls around 2012 and 2013.
Police cite witnesses from within the Amish community who said while Mr. Esh’s church excommunicated the alleged perpetrator, he only had the matter “handled internally” in order to keep the incident quiet. When two congregants raised concerns about the case in October 2019, they told police that Mr. Esh said “it’s been taken care of, and it’s none of your business.”
Mr. Esh faces felony and misdemeanor charges of failing to report or refer a case of suspected child abuse to authorities.
State law has since 2014 required several categories of persons, including clergy, to report suspected child abuse. The criminal complaint alleges Mr. Esh’s failure to report occurred over the time period between 2012 and 2019.
The Post-Gazette reported in its “Coverings” series in 2019 that Amish and Mennonite elders, part of the self-described Plain church tradition, have often treated sexual abuse allegations as sins to be dealt with through internal church discipline rather than as crimes, and that victims are often pressured to reconcile with abusers who make a profession of repentance.
This is the first case in at least recent memory in which a Plain church leader is charged for failing to report child abuse in Lancaster County — home to the world’s largest Amish population.
But other cases have arisen in Pennsylvania. In 2019, a Mennonite pastor was convicted in Huntingdon County of endangering the welfare of children for preventing or interfering with the reporting of child abuse. In 2017, an Amish bishop in Dauphin County was convicted for failing to report suspected child abuse. Both received probation.
Leaders of Plain churches say they’ve improved their responses to sexual abuse in recent years, and Lancaster County law-enforcement and child-welfare officials agree that communication and cooperation have improved. Advocates for victims say the progress is uneven and that church leaders need to account for a long history in which perpetrators were shielded from the legal consequences of their acts while victims were often shamed for failing to forgive perpetrators.
Mr. Esh is bishop of two congregations in Lancaster County, including the Marticville District church where the alleged perpetrator, John G. Beiler, had been a member.
Mr. Beiler, 41, was charged April 8 on nine criminal counts for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls under 13 and a third who was between 13 and 15 around 2012 or 2013.
According to Pequea police, Mr. Beiler confessed his alleged sexual offenses to Mr. Esh at the time. Police said the bishop told Mr. Beiler to go confess what he did to the victims’ father. The father told police he learned of the excommunication and that church leaders were “keeping a close eye” on Mr. Beiler.
In October 2019, some members of the church raised concerns anew about the church’s handling of the incident.
Two of them met with Mr. Esh twice and reported he finally told them to “let it go” and would not discuss it further, according to police.
Mr. Esh was arraigned Wednesday with bail set at $25,000. He faces a May 13 preliminary hearing.
Mr. Beiler was video arraigned in District Court with bail set at $75,000.
Peter Smith: petersmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416; Twitter @PG_PeterSmith.
First Published: April 23, 2020, 12:12 a.m.