COLUMBIA, MO — The leader of an Amish community in Cooper County was arrested on Wednesday over claims of sexual abuse and forced labor at a rural retreat.

Cooper County Sheriff Chris Class said Sam Shetler, 42, was arrested after a search warrant in the 11000 block of Hidden Valley Court at the Mercy and Truth-Amish and Mennonite Retreat between Boonville and Prairie Home.

Prosecutors filed charges on Wednesday, which were made available on Friday, for two counts of trafficking for forced labor and one county sodomy. Shetler is due in court on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. for a counsel status hearing.

At least three witnesses spoke to deputies in early 2026 about their experiences at the retreat, describing abusive and controlling conditions.

Court documents show that the sheriff’s office had received numerous tips from 2022 to 2026 about “cult-like” behavior at the retreat in rural Cooper County. Witnesses, many of whom stayed at the retreat when they were teenagers, described working on the property for no pay. Children would be “leased out” for work in town, a witness said, with any pay due going directly to Shetler. Some were made to sleep in the cold or have pepper put in their eyes as punishment.

One witness reported Shetler rubbed oil on them as a means of “healing” prior sexual abuse. The witness said Shetler touched them inappropriately during one encounter. The same witness also allegedly told deputies that they woke on night after taking pills given to her by Shetler to someone holding their legs and arms down, but they couldn’t figure out who it was.

According to court documents, Shetler made at least three women believe they were possessed by demons, and the only way to be healed was through his massages.

“‘Sam would mentally manipulate and mentally torture juvenile females, and young women into believing they were ‘demon possessed’ or that ‘evil spirits’ were present in order to ‘control’ them in exchange for self-gratification,” a Cooper County deputy wrote in a probable cause statement.

Deputies conducted a search warrant on the property after a multi-year investigation.

“The retreat was under the control of one individual who took advantage of his position in the Amish Community to control, coerce, and force vulnerable people for his own profit in different forms,” the sheriff said in a release.

His bond was set at $100,000 cash, according to the release.

Jasper Hoffman is an Amish activist and has a podcast called “The Plain People’s Podast,” where she speaks to Amish women about their experiences with the church and any abuse they might encounter.

Hoffman told ABC 17 News that there are about 70 retreats, like the one in Boonville, in the U.S., that “fly under the radar.”

She said the Boonville case sounds like many of the other retreats.

“It’s very, very typical, like there is nothing that stands out that makes me go ‘Oh my God’ I can’t believe that,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman said standing up to any kind of abuse in the Amish community is difficult, and scary for most women.

“It’s a lot of risk for them, from the inside, to come forward. They’re ostracised, they’ll be cut off from support within the church. That means financial support. Oftentimes, we see a lot of harassment happen with phone calls, driving by, intimidation, and they don’t know that’s illegal,” Hoffman said.

Overall, the retreats are “heartbreaking.”

“Truly, nobody’s really getting the assistance that they need. You know, there’s no therapy there, they’re not really receiving anything, and it’s just further creating harm,” Hoffman said.

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