Jehovah’s Witnesses member from Harmony charged with rape by state Attorney General
Another Butler County man of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor over the course of five years, according to Pennsylvania’s Office of the Attorney General.
Investigators said Shaun Sheffer, 45, of Harmony, abused the female, from when she was 7 years old and until she was 12 years old. She is now 35 years old.
Sheffer was charged with three counts each of rape, indecent deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault and one count of corruption of minors on Wednesday, July 5.
Over the past eight months, two other Butler County men of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith have been accused of sexually abusing and exploiting minors.
The charges stem from a state grand jury investigation, which determined there was probable cause that the men sexually abused and exploited minors with whom they had close contact, in some cases members of their families.
In October 2022, another Butler County member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith, Eric Eleam, 61, was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
When agents from the Attorney General’s office and police from Butler County attempted to take him into custody on Oct. 27, Eleam “retreated into his bathroom and killed himself behind closed doors,” according to investigators.
In February, Kevin Isovitsch, 51, was charged with rape, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors, by the Attorney General’s office.
Isovitsch is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl.
During the investigation, the Attorney General’s office also charged others associated with the faith. Criminal charges were filed against Marc Brown, of Allegheny County; Raymond Shultz, of Beaver County; Jesse Hill, formerly of Berks County; Robert Ostrander, formerly of Cambria County; and Abimael Valentin-Matos, Jose Serrano and Norman Aviles, all of Lancaster County.
According to court documents in Sheffer’s case, investigators determined that he was part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Zelienople.
The female’s identity was discovered through the religious organization’s documentation of an investigation into Sheffer’s conduct, investigators said.
Documents showed she testified before a grand jury that Sheffer raped her approximately 50 to 75 times from 1995 to 2000, in addition to performing other sex acts. The woman would have been 7 years old when the assaults began and Sheffer would have been 18.
Investigators said Sheffer would cover the girl’s mouth to “keep her quiet” and tell her not to disclose the incidents.
The female testified to being “very afraid” of Sheffer, documents showed, and one witness described Sheffer as “mean, narcissistic, manipulative and controlling” during testimony to the grand jury.
“(The witness) indicated that Sheffer seemed to enjoy inflicting discomfort and pain on others,” investigators said.
Investigators said records from the Zelienople congregation’s investigation into Sheffer showed he denied the allegations, and that “vigilance in monitoring his conduct on (Jehovah’s Witnesses) property would be undertaken.”
Sheffer was arraigned Thursday, July 6, before District Judge Amy Marcinkiewicz. He was placed in Butler County Prison in lieu of $300,000 bail.
His preliminary hearing before Marcinkiewicz is scheduled July 18.
