Insets: Daryl and Grace Sensenig (Ephrata Police). Background: Daryl and Grace Sensenig’s home on Laurel Ridge Road in Reinholds, Pa. (Google Maps).
A Pennsylvania couple is accused of forcing a “juvenile family member” to stay inside a wooden shed on their rural and secluded property — off and on, for nearly four months — as punishment for “inappropriate behaviors,” cops say.
Daryl Sensenig, 41, and Grace Sensenig, 42, both of Reinholds, are charged with felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child in connection to the alleged mistreatment, which was uncovered and reported this week by the Ephrata Police Department.
Reinholds is an unincorporated community some 70 miles west of Philadelphia.
Officers responded to the couple’s home at 895 Laurel Ridge Road at around 5 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a call about a “domestic dispute,” the EPD says.
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An investigation found that the Sensenigs assaulted the family member, who was under the couple’s care after returning home from a long-term boy’s camp, and “hindered” the child from receiving “proper food, water, shelter and other basic human needs,” the EPD says.
A criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime details the alleged living conditions forced upon the child, which the Sensenigs allegedly implemented as punishment for “previous inappropriate behaviors.”
“The victim is only allowed to shower inside of the residence once a week,” the filing says. “The victim does not have a water hook-up to the wooden shed and is only allowed to utilize the water hose outside of the main residence for access to running water. The victim is rarely allowed to use the indoor bathroom facilities and is forced to relieve himself outdoors.”
The child was also allegedly forced to “use money earned from his part-time job to pay for food.”
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Police say Daryl Sensenig assaulted the minor on Wednesday “after an argument.” He allegedly tackled the victim to the ground and applied pressure to the child’s neck, according to the complaint. The EPD says both the Sensenigs mistreated the family member.
“The juvenile family member was placed into the protection of extended family pending further investigation by the Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency,” police said.
Daryl and Grace Sensenig each had their bail set at $30,000 and were released after posting it Thursday. They were arraigned in Lancaster County and are due back for their preliminary hearings on Aug. 13.
