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Amish man gets lengthy sentence for child rapes

Lee to serve 30 to 90 years for assaults on four girls

CLEARFIELD — An Amish man now classified as a sexually violent predator was given a lengthy state prison sentence Friday for sexually assaulting four young girls in Clearfield County.

Simon M. Lee, 35, Westover, was sentenced to a total of 30 to 90 years in state prison with nine years’ consecutive re-entry probation.

Lee was originally charged by state police last year with multiple counts of rape, rape of child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault.

During a special hearing before Judge Paul E. Cherry, William Allenbaugh II of the sexual offender assessment board testified regarding Lee’s status as a possible sexually violent predator.

Allenbaugh said the multiple victims who were assaulted over two years — June 2022 to Aug. 1, 2024 — indicate that Lee suffers from pedophilia, which is a lifetime disorder that has no cure.

Lee was only stopped because his actions were reported to adults, “or he could have continued,” Allenbaugh said.

The children ranged in age from 2 to 6 years old when the assaults began.

In his expert opinion, Allenbaugh stated that Lee meets the criteria of being a sexually violent predator.

Judge Paul E. Cherry ruled there was sufficient evidence and classified Lee as a sexually violent predator.

Lee, who sat with his head down during most of the hearing, was also in court to be sentenced on an open plea agreement for three counts of rape of a child.

Lee must complete sex offender counseling and comply with all the conditions of Megan’s Law.

He was ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with any female under the age of 18 or the victims.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the first victim was 6 to 8 years old, victim two was 5 to 7 years old, victim three was 3 to 5 years old and victim four was 2 to 4 years old during the period they were assaulted.

The investigation began after one of the victims’ fathers reported to police that the four girls had been assaulted by Lee at two locations in Burnside Township.

All of the victims were interviewed at the Clearfield County Child Advocacy Center with a special translator who spoke Pennsylvania Dutch.

The first victim explained that they were playing hide and seek with Lee when it first happened to her. She said he touched her under her clothes and also raped her, adding it happened “a lot of times.”

During some of the abuse, she stated that she tried to leave, but “he would not let us go.” She confirmed that the others had also suffered assaults from Lee.

In her interview, the second victim also stated that Lee would not let her leave when they were playing hide and seek.

“He just held me there and I couldn’t get free,” she reportedly said.

When asked how many times this happened, she allegedly said, “He did it so many times that I can’t remember” and that he touched her every time she saw him.

Victim three reported that she was also sexually assaulted more than once, according to the report.

The fourth victim refused to speak.

When the parents of two of the victims were interviewed by investigators, they stated that one of the girls told them about the abuse not just of her, but of the other girls. They then spoke to the other girls, who told them it was true.

The father confronted Lee, who reportedly “broke down and cried,” begging for forgiveness. Later, he confessed to a bishop of the church and was shunned in the community for four weeks, according to the criminal complaint.

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