Bucks man gets prison for sex abuse of family members

A 44-year-old Quakertown man was sentenced Friday to three to 10 years in state prison for sexually abusing a woman and her two daughters, the Bucks County District Attorney’s office said.

Abraham Benjamin Parise pleaded guilty in October to misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and admitted Friday to a felony count of aggravated indecent assault.

The abuse against the victims, who are family members, occurred for more than a decade and included assaults on one girl, who is now a teen, when she was 4 years old, prosecutors said.

In a victim impact statement, a victim said she first reported the abuse to pastors at her family’s church in Quakertown and was told to forgive Parise and submit to him. She later reported the abuse to police. “I wish I would’ve spoken to the right people sooner,” she said.

Parise told Common Pleas Court Judge Gary B. Gilman that pornography was to blame for his behavior and that he has received counseling from the same family church, prosecutors said. Gilman called Parise’s abuse a “reign of terror” and applauded the courage of the victims for coming forward.

“Justice was served in this horrific case simply because of the bravery of these victims,” Deputy District Attorney Kate Kohler said in a statement.