Pedophile father who forced his adopted teen daughters, including a mentally disabled one, to have sex with him will not serve jail time
A pedophile has avoided jail after forcing his underage adopted daughters to have sex with him multiple times.
Forty nine-year-old Steven Wells took a plea deal before he was given a six-year suspended sentence with four years probation at the Allen County Superior Court in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Friday, Metro reports.
Despite admitting to years of abuse against the victims, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time, Wells was able to have his child molestation charges dropped after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor.
It also came to light that Wells' youngest adopted daughter is mentally disabled with the mental age of a seven-year-old.
According to the report, the abuse allegedly began in 2012 at the family's Fort Wayne residence. It went undetected for four years until the eldest daughter spoke to a counselor at a Youth Opportunity Center in 2016.
"I was going to hide it for my whole life and say nothing because I don’t want to see my dad go to prison," the eldest daughter said in a statement, reported by WANE. "I told today because I am at my breaking point."
Investigators later determined how the younger adopted daughter was also a victim of multiple sexual encounters with Wells. It was then that one forensic nurse, upon evaluation, estimated she had the mental capacity near a seven-year-old. The statements by Wells' daughters documented all the instances of sexual abuse dating back to 2012.
Wells was subsequently sentenced to a pair of three-year sentences which he would have to serve consecutively. That said, Wells will only serve four years of probation and will not spend any time behind bars.
That said, Wells was allowed to walk free after the hearing on Friday. However, he is barred from contacting the two victims in the future.