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 confining a “juvenile family member” to a wooden shed on their rural and secluded property intermittently for nearly four months as punishment for “inappropriate behaviors,” according to police.
Daryl Sensenig, aged 41, and Grace Sensenig, aged 42, from Reinholds, face felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child related to the alleged mistreatment, which was brought to light this week by the Ephrata Police Department.
Reinholds is an unincorporated community some 70 miles west of Philadelphia.
Authorities arrived at the couple’s residence located at 895 Laurel Ridge Road around 5 p.m. Wednesday following a report of a “domestic dispute,” according to the EPD.
The investigation revealed that the Sensenigs had assaulted a family member, who was in their care after coming home from a long-term boy’s camp, and “prevented” the child from accessing “adequate food, water, shelter, and other essential human needs,” states the EPD.
A criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime outlines the alleged living conditions imposed on the child, which the Sensenigs supposedly enforced as punishment for “prior inappropriate behaviors.”
“The victim is only permitted to shower inside the residence once a week,” according to the document. “The victim does not have access to a water connection in the wooden shed and is only allowed to use the water hose outside the main residence to obtain running water. The victim is seldom allowed to use indoor bathroom facilities and is compelled to relieve himself outdoors.”
The child was also allegedly forced to “use money earned from his part-time job to pay for food.”
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.
