In what appears to be the first such case of its kind in Lancaster County, an Amish bishop has been charged with failing to report suspected sexual abuse.

Levi S. Esh Sr. 63, of Pequea, was charged Tuesday with one felony and one misdemeanor count of failure to report to appropriate authorities.

According to charging documents, in late October 2019, two concerned members of the Amish community met with Esh on one occasion, and another occasion, Esh and other Amish leaders about sexual abuse.

“They were told once, ‘It’s been taken care of and it’s none of your business’ and then at the second meeting, ‘We aren’t talking about it’ and ‘it’s none of your business let it go,’” the documents said.

The members then went to police.

The underlying matter concerned John G. Beiler, 41, of Providence Township, who was recently charged with sexually assaulting three girls several times between 2011 and 2015. The girls were between 12 and 14 years old at the time.

According to court documents, Beiler confessed to church leaders to abusing the girls and was told to confess to the girls’ father. Beiler was then excommunicated and Esh told the girls’ father that church leaders were keeping a close eye on Beiler.

Christopher Sarno, who represents Esh and Beiler, said Esh and his community are upset over the charges.

Sarno said there may be statute of limitation issues with the charges noting that one of the required reporting laws, which has since changed, would not have applied to Esh when the allegations about Beiler surfaced.

"I think, like always, (prosecutors are) trying to set an example," he said.

Sarno has represented a number of Amish accused of sexual offenses recently and was a former county prosecutor. He said he was unaware of an Amish person being charged with failing to report suspected abuse.

"I know it's been threatened a lot," he said.

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Brett Hambright, a spokesman for the Lancaster County District Attorney’s office, said he was unaware of an Amish church leader being charged with failing to report suspect abuse.

State law classifies certain categories of adults, such as school employees, licensed health care workers and clergy, as “mandated reporters” who are required to report suspected child abuse to authorities. Failure to report suspected child abuse can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony.

The Amish, Sarno said, "are very well aware that they have to report and they do report" he said.

Esh is free on $25,000 unsecured bail.

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