LANCASTER — A Lancaster Township man was convicted Friday of more than two dozen charges regarding sustained beatings, sexual abuse and imprisonment of four children.
Donald A. Moyer, 63, will be sentenced after a background investigation is completed in a couple months.
A Lancaster County jury deliberated for about 2½ hours before returning guilty verdicts Friday morning to 25 charges, including rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and false imprisonment.
Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick told jurors that the victims suffered in a “living hell,” often times being locked in a room for extended periods and raped by Moyer.
The children were between ages 6 and 12, and had intellectual disabilities.
Haverstick told the jury the crimes were acts of torture.
The children were also beaten, sometimes with objects. The four victims all testified during the weeklong trial, along with medical experts, social workers, school personnel and Manheim Township police investigators.
A school principal testified that the children often attended classes dirty and starving. Witnesses testified that the refrigerator at the home had a lock on it; there were numerous locks throughout the home.
The abuse was disclosed in 2016.
The children were taken into custody of social services at that point.
Moyer did not testify. He is at Lancaster County Prison on $500,000 bail.
Lancaster County President Judge Dennis Reinaker will determine sentence.
Manheim Township police Detectives Sarah Goss and Nicholas Fritz were lead investigators.
SOURCE: Lancaster County District Attorney
