Who are Aaron and Petie Schwartz? Amish brothers who gang-raped sister spared jail as they 'would be eaten alive'
Two Amish brothers who had gang-raped their 12-year-old sister have managed to avoid going to jail as the prosecutor claimed that they "would've been eaten alive" at the prison.
The two brothers, Aaron Schwartz, 22, and Petie Schwartz, 18, had pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree child molestation with a child under the age of 14, as per Webster County Citizen. At the time of the attacks, the boys' sister was 12 and 13.
The brothers along with two younger brothers had raped their sister but were able to walk away from jail free. The brothers were able to make a plea deal which included a 10-year suspended prison term with around five years of probation. According to Webster County prosecutor, Ben Berkstresser, "These two young men would’ve been eaten alive in the state prison system."
Berkstresser revealed how he had been "very harsh on the Amish" in terms of crimes of this nature. However, "in this instance, these two boys are very immature relative to their respective ages. Maturity wise, they are much younger than their age."
"There were four brothers, two of them minors, while the other two legally are adults," he added. "All of them had sexual relations with their sister. There is no question this occurred," Berkstresser revealed. The sister of the brothers ended up becoming pregnant as a result of the rapes and recently gave birth to a baby at the age of 13.
The two older brothers, Aaron and Petie, will be on probation for five years and will be required to complete the Missouri Sex Offender Treatment Program by September 8, 2021. They must also finish 100 hours of community service and each write an apology letter to Seymour’s Amish community in the next 30 days.
The brothers will also be required to pay $250 to the Law Enforcement Restitution Fund (LERF) as per the plea agreement. Berkstresser spoke about how he was aware that the punishment would draw a lot of backlash from many in the Seymour area as well as the southern Webster County.
Berkstresser revealed, "It needs to be noted that in this case, there were four brothers, two of them minors, while the other two legally are adults. All of them had sexual relations with their sister. There is no question this occurred."
He shared how "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."
It is said that the alleged crime had been revealed on June 6 when it was discovered that the victim had become pregnant. "The only reason we knew of this was because the sister got pregnant, and a doctor found out and hotlined it," Berkstresser said.
"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," Berkstresser revealed.