Crime & Safety

Reports: Woman Charged in Horse Fraud Worked in Charlestown

She was recently fired from a farm in Charlestown Township after police say she sent horses to slaughter after promising to rescue them.

A 24-year-old Chester County woman has been accused of selling to slaughterhouses horses for whom she'd promised to find good homes, according to multiple news sources. Kelsey Lefever, of Honey Brook, allegedly sent multiple horses to a Canadian slaughterhouse after agreeing not to do so.

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Lefever worked briefly as a trainer and riding instructor in Charlestown Township even after the charges were filed:

Connor Langan, trainer and manager at Great Scott horse farm in Malvern, said he checked out Lefever's references before he hired her as a trainer and riding instructor just before Christmas.

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But she never mentioned the fraud case pending against her, he said.

When Langan learned of the charges on Monday, he fired Lefever.

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State police have charged her with multiple felonies, including theft by deception and deceptive business practices, according to the Patriot-News:

Although police have only charged Lefever in connection with those four horses, there might be many more. A friend of Lefever’s told state police trooper Colleen Shelly about a drunken telephone call she allegedly received from Lefever, documented in an affidavit the trooper filed with the arrest documents. 

In the affidavit, the friend, Amy Groninger, quotes Lefever as saying, “I killed every one of those [expletive deleted] horses, over 120 of them, if they only knew ... Every one of them is dead.”


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