ALBANY, N.Y. – A northern New York couple has been arraigned on charges they intended to physically harm or sexually abuse two Amish sisters after kidnapping them from a roadside farm stand.
Stephen Howells and Nicole Vaisey of Hermon were each charged Friday with two counts of first-degree kidnapping.
St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain says 39-year-old Howells and 25-year-old Vaisey were jailed without bond.
The sisters, ages 7 and 12, vanished Wednesday night in Oswegatchie (ahs-wee-GAH'-chee), touching off a massive search in the farming community near the Canadian border.
They turned up safe Thursday night at the door of a house 15 miles from where they were taken.
The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse.
The suspects also live in the vicinity.