Суд перенес дело обвиняемого в эксплуатации секты амишей в графство Монтгомери

Alleged Amish retreat operator trial officially moved to Montgomery County The trial of the Cooper County man accused of committing several crimes while running an Amish “retreat” has officially been moved to Montgomery County. Online court records show that Sam Shetler, 42, was charged in Montgomery County Court with three counts of Trafficking for the Purposes of Slavery/Involuntary Servitude/Forced Labor, one count of First-Degree Sodomy, four counts of First Degree Kidnapping - Facilitating A Felony - Inflicting Injury - Terrorizing, and two counts of First Degree Sexual Abuse. Court documents state that, from 2022 to 2026, Shetler owned and operated the "Mercy and Truth Amish and Mennonite Retreat" in the 11000 block of Hidden Valley Court in Cooper County. The retreat was supposedly for people from Amish and Mennonite communities who are disabled and/or in need of counseling or therapy. During that time, people had reported “cult-like, suspicious, abusive, sexual and neglectful behavior from Shetler to his ‘residents.’” A 19-year-old who was at Shetler's retreat from February 2021 until March 2022 told investigators that Shetler asked her inappropriate sexual questions and rubbed her genitals over her clothing. She also said that Shetler forced her to take multiple pills a day. She reported that she took them after seeing Shetler lock another girl in a jail cell for not taking her pills. The woman said she tried to escape several times, only succeeding when she was able to call a family member who came and got her. Investigators also talked to three sisters who were 19 and 20 between March of 2014 and June of 2016 when they went to Shetler to learn to be "more Amish." The women said that they saw Shetler pull the teeth of a six-year-old Amish boy as a punishment. The three reported constant sleep deprivation and being forced to take up to 80 pills a day. The sisters were eventually able to escape. Shetler has been held at the Cooper County Jail on a $100,000 bond since March 2026.