Prison inmate David Stoltzfus Smucker died Tuesday, less than a year after his sentencing in a case that highlighted the growing awareness of sexual abuse in his Amish community and related groups.
Smucker, 76, died at Uniontown Hospital, according to his obituary. The Lancaster County native was an inmate at SCI Fayette.
The Department of Corrections confirmed his death from natural causes.
In January, he received a sentence of 38 to 76 years following his conviction for sexually abusing four girls over several years. At that time, his lawyer described Smucker, who used a wheelchair, as being in failing health.
The case was one of several reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in its 2019 series, “Coverings,” about sexual abuse in Amish, Mennonite and related Plain church communities. Such communities have historically treated abuse as a sin to be dealt with through church discipline rather than a crime to be reported, and victims have often felt pressure to forgive and reconcile with perpetrators.
Smucker pleaded no-contest in December 2019 to 20 felony counts including rape, incest and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child. At Smucker’s sentencing, Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge Dennis Reinaker called his conduct “evil” and said that, unlike other Amish people convicted of sexual abuse whom he had sentenced, Smucker denied his victims even the small healing gesture of taking responsibility for his actions.
The case helped inspire the launch of a new task force in Lancaster County, home to the nation’s largest Amish population, to address issues of abuse in Plain communities.
Smucker, a retired dairy farmer from East Earl, is survived by 10 children and 67 grandchildren, according to his obituary in Lancaster Online.
First Published: December 16, 2020, 3:53 p.m.