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 XPost: alt.society.mental-health 
 From: wsmith@cbs.com 
  
 CANTON, N.Y. (AP) € The northern New York couple charged in the 
 kidnapping of two young Amish sisters were prowling for easy 
 targets and sexually abused the girls before letting them go, 
 authorities say. 
  
 The couple were arrested and arraigned Friday on charges of 
 kidnapping with the intent to physically or sexually abuse the 7- 
 year-old and 12-year-old sisters. 
  
 St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain said Saturday 
 that the girls were sexually abused, and the county sheriff said 
 Stephen Howells Jr. and Nicole Vaisey may have planned to abduct 
 other children. 
  
 "We felt that there was the definite potential that there was 
 going to be other victims," St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin 
 Wells said. 
  
 Howells, 39, and Vaisey, 25, are being held without bail and 
 have a preliminary court appearance scheduled Thursday. 
  
 The sheriff said the Hermon couple "were targeting 
 opportunities" and did not necessarily grab the girls because 
 they were Amish. 
  
 "There was a lot of thought process that went into this," Wells 
 said. "They were looking for opportunities to victimize." 
  
 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. 
  
 Vaisey's lawyer, Bradford Riendeau told The New York Times that 
 Howells had abused Vaisey and treated her submissively. He said 
 she made a "voluntary statement" to investigators after her 
 arrest and was obtaining an order of protection against him. 
  
 "She appears to have been the slave and he was the master," 
 Riendeau told the newspaper. 
  
 There was no answer Saturday at the St. Lawrence County Conflict 
 Defender's Office, which is representing Howells. 
  
 Wells said the girls were able to provide details to 
 investigators about their time in captivity. 
  
 The Associated Press generally does not identify people who may 
 be victims of sexual abuse. 
  
 The kidnappings touched off a massive search in the family's 
 remote farming community. Searchers scoured the community of 
 about 4,000 people, but were hampered by a lack of photos of the 
 girls. 
  
 The Amish typically avoid modern technology, and the family had 
 to work with an artist who spoke their language, a German 
 dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch, to produce a sketch of the 
 older girl. 
  
 http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Prosecutor-Couple- 
 sexually-abused-2-Amish-sisters-5693767.php#photo-6735098 
  
 € € 
  
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