Levi Esh Sr., 63, an Amish bishop of two congregations in Lancaster County, is accused of failing to notify law enforcement that a church member allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting three girls.
Esh was arraigned this week on misdemeanor and felony charges that he failed to report another church members alleged sexual assault which occurred in 2012-2013 and supposedly only “handled it internally” according to reports.
John Beiler, the alleged sexual abuseser was charged last week with one count of indecent assault of a victim younger than 16, two counts indecent assault of a victim younger than 13, and three counts corruption of minors and three counts unlawful contact with a minor, according to police.
The allegations against Beiler came out in November 2019 and stem from multiple incidents that took place between 2011 and 2015, authorities said.
“Police became aware of the activity after concerned members of the Amish community had conversations with Esh and other bishops and ministers in October 2019,” the DA’s office reported. “The community members were told to ‘let it go’ and that it had ‘been taken care of.’”
Beiler confessed his actions to Esh, who failed to call the police or social workers, instead he instructed him to admit his sins to the fathers of the girls. Beiler was subsequently excommunicated from the church.
