Sam Shetler in Court: Wants Church Approval Before Hiring a Lawyer
Sam Shetler of Mercy and Truth retreat made his first court appearance Tuesday. The Amish man who led the Cooper County, Missouri retreat center was arrested March 25th, and faces charges of trafficking and sodomy.
Shetler appeared by video feed, with a number of attendees including Amish people in the courtroom.
In this appearance, we learn that Shetler does not yet have a lawyer. He has refused to fill out a public defender application. He has an explanation as to why – from the report at KOMU:
“I would prefer to first talk to my family and my church because I’m [honestly] not sure if my church approves of that,” Shetler said, “so if I’m allowed to, I would like to first communicate with my family and my church and make sure I’m not doing something against the church.”
Shetler is sounding very deferential to court and family here. Perhaps this is all sincere, and founded in a commonly-held deference among church members to authority, rules and tradition – which tends to be strong among the more tradition-minded groups especially.
The Amish, again generally speaking, are known to reject using lawyers to file lawsuits, seeing such legal means as using a form of force, which goes against their deeply-founded beliefs in nonresistance (though there have been exceptions; see below).
On the other hand, if I were a cynical person, I might suggest that this statement by Shetler also serves to begin presenting a public picture of oneself as someone who follows rules.
But not just that – someone who defers to and respects a higher authority, namely his church and church leaders, as well as someone respectful of family (I’m told that Shetler is not a member of church ministry himself).
Shetler belongs to a Swartzentruber Amish church, generally speaking one of the most conservative and traditional of Amish groups. Within the Swartzentruber Amish, not all churches are the same, and there are some differentiated groups, even under that same label, that have some differences in how they do things.
Generally speaking, Swartzentruber Amish have in fact acquired, or accepted, legal counsel in the past, and even filed lawsuits.
However, those have tended to be higher-profile cases, applying to multiple members of the community, and involving broader matters related to “religious freedom”-framed issues – such as the buggy lighting law in Ohio, or disputes over gray water disposal in Minnesota.
This, in contrast, is a matter involving one defendant in a criminal case.
The report at KOMU closes by recounting some of the allegations against Shetler, according to the probable cause statement:
Witnesses said forms of punishment at the retreat for not taking pills, not working or not obeying Shelter would range from sleeping in the attic during the winter, sitting in the “icehouse,” being tied or chained up, force-fed pills, verbal abuse, being “spanked,” continued forced labor and being forced into the “safe room,” according to the probable cause statement.
The probable cause statement also described an allegation of Shetler having unwanted sexual contact with a girl who was staying at the retreat when she was 13 or 14 years old.
“Through interviews, letters, and investigations, a consistent scheme, plan, and pattern was established,” the statement said. “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.”
Shetler remains at the Cooper County Jail under a $100,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 7th at Cooper County Courthouse. It remains to be seen if he’ll have legal representation by then. If you missed it, here is the story on Shetler’s arrest and charges.
Speaking of authority...
It would be interesting to know what action or position, if any, has been taken by both the retreat center and his church/community. To that point, is the center still operating? What was his role there?
On the surface, his desire to consult with the church and his family makes sense, particularly in the Amish environment. But if he has this claimed “respect for authority,” it would appear that he’s not applying it consistently. At some level, that’s okay whether one is Amish or Englisch.
The question is whether or not the case stays on track. Our legal system doesn’t encourage that and doesn’t follow a tight timeline. Ultimately, the legal issue is whether or not he’s guilty of the charges. I suspect the path to that conclusion will be an interesting one.
Do evil spirits exist?
This could become a very interesting court case if he only knew how to present it using court rules and procedures to lay out his beliefs and the Bible teaching regarding evil spirits and demons. He is starting off well by being hesitant to use the system or allow the public defender to represent him which would be a sure way to lose his case. Most public defenders end up working with the system to do a plea bargain which is no bargain for the defendant in many cases!
Since it is human nature for people to complain and retaliate perhaps these young boys and girls are simply using law enforcement and the judicial system to try to seek revenge on what their parents did by putting them in Sam Shetler’s care. And for that matter where are the parents who abdicated and gave up parental control of their own children? Could they not also be held accountable? If only Sam knew how to raise these issues in court.