Leader of ‘cult-like’ Amish community arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse, forced labor

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.

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.

As of Friday morning, formal charges were not available online.

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

This is a developing story.