More charges planned in Amish kidnap case

Associated Press

CANTON, N.Y.

More charges are expected soon against a northern New York couple accused of kidnapping two young Amish sisters and sexually abusing them, a prosecutor said Sunday.

Computer hard drives and other potential evidence still were being collected Sunday from the home of Stephen Howells Jr. and Nicole Vaisey, said Mary Rain, district attorney for St. Lawrence County.

The pair was arrested Friday and charged with kidnapping with the intent to physically or sexually abuse the 7-year-old and 12-year-old sisters. Authorities say the couple prowled for easy targets and sexually abused the girls before letting them go after about 24 hours.

Howells, 39, and Vaisey, 25, are being held without bail and have a preliminary court appearance scheduled for Thursday.

“I 100 percent expect more charges,” Rain told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. She said the new charges, which she wouldn’t detail, could come after she meets with police investigators today or at the hearing Thursday. Prosecutors may have to wait for results from forensic tests.

The sisters were abducted Wednesday from a farm stand in front of the family’s home in Oswegatchie, near the Canadian border. They were set free by their captors about 24 hours later and turned up safe at the door of a house 15 miles from where they were taken.

There was no answer Sunday at the St. Lawrence County Conflict Defender’s Office, which is representing Howells.

Vaisey’s lawyer, Bradford Riendeau told The New York Times that she was in an abusive and submissive relationship with Howells.