Amish Man Who Led “Mercy & Truth Retreat” in Missouri Arrested on Trafficking and Sodomy Charges

A very disturbing story out of Missouri. An Amish man named Sam Shetler, leader of a Plain community “retreat”, has been arrested following a multi-year investigation.

Accounts describe appalling behaviors — including extreme control over the young people entrusted to his care, to the level of physical and even sexual abuse.

Shetler is now in custody and faces several felony charges. From the report at KOMU:

COOPER COUNTY — The leader of the Mercy & Truth Retreat in Cooper County was arrested Wednesday following accusations that he abused residents and forced them to work for him without pay.

Sam B. Shetler, 42, of Boonville, was arrested and charged with two counts of trafficking for the purposes of slavery/involuntary servitude/or forced labor and one count of first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy, according to court documents.

The Cooper County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest in a Facebook post Friday. Shetler appeared for an arraignment hearing on Friday and entered a plea of not guilty, according to court records.

It’s worth a brief mention at this point that Shetler has appeared on this website before, but in much more innocuous circumstances. He was featured in a news report on a talk he gave for non-Amish people at a local library in 2019.

It struck me as unusual at the time, but a quite interesting talk. Why unusual? Not so much in that an Amish person gave an educational talk to the public – that happens from time to time. But that, coupled with the fact that Shetler is from ostensibly the most conservative Amish group, the Swartzentruber Amish.

I only much more recently – within the past several weeks – became aware of possibly suspect practices at the Mercy and Truth center, and heard a rumor of him being under investigation.

What is Mercy & Truth?

What exactly is Mercy & Truth Retreat? More on that from KOMU:

Mercy and Truth is a retreat for Amish and Mennonite community members that Shetler has owned and operated since 2022, according to court documents.

A probable cause statement written by a Cooper County Sheriff’s Office detective sergeant describes the retreat as being for individuals who are “morally or mentally disabled and or in need of counseling or therapy services.”

“The retreat was under the control of one individual who took advantage of his position in the Amish Community to control, manipulate, coerce, and force vulnerable people for his own profit in different forms,” Cooper County Sheriff Chris Class said in the sheriff’s office’s Facebook post.

Amish do run various counseling centers, though this one should not be taken as representative of other institutions.

What did Sam Shetler allegedly do?

It is alleged that Shetler abused people in his center, many if not all of them a young age. At least two reports paint an at times gruesome picture of control and physical punishment. Those details to follow in just a minute.

But first, the press release by Cooper County Sheriff’s Office announcing Shetler’s arrest is here.

As the culmination of a “multi-year investigation”, the release states that Shetler was arrested March 25th and charged with the following:

1. Trafficking for the purposes of slavery/involuntary servitude/or forced labor
2. Trafficking for the purposes of slavery/involuntary servitude/or forced labor
3. Sodomy or Attempted Sodomy – 1st Degree

The release adds that there were many witnesses and victims who provided information:

The Cooper County Sheriff’s Office has interviewed dozens of witnesses and victims and has reason to believe there are more witnesses and victims involved. If you have any information regarding this investigation, please contact the Cooper County Sheriff’s Office at: 660-882-2771.

And a warning if you continue reading, the details that have emerged in multiple reports are disturbing.

The picture is of a man who abused the people entrusted to him, and also profited off of their labors. Here is more from the report at KRCG:

During that time, people had reported “’cult-like’ suspicious, abusive, sexual and neglectful behavior from Shetler to his ‘residents.’”

One teen reported that when he attended the retreat from the summer of 2023 to spring 2025, he saw a boy forced to sleep in a cold attic during the winter as punishment.

He also reported that he saw an Amish man with disabilities being kicked in the genitals, locked in a room for weeks and pepper put in his eyes.

The victim also said that Shetler forced him and other residents to take around 100 pills a day, and then forced them to pay for the “medications.”

The documents stated that young men and boys were forced to work at Shetler’s private businesses and farms.

They were not paid for their labor and were reportedly “leased out” to “English” people for their work, and any profit from their labor would go to the man.

According to witnesses, there was a particular regimen of punishment for those who refused taking pills, or disobeyed Shetler in other ways. Via KOMU:

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.

Alleged Abuse of Young Women and Girls

Shetler’s alleged treatment of young females placed under his care is detailed below. Warning: graphic. From KRCG:

Another report stated that Shetler had “control” over three female teens, who were 15 years old when they came to the retreat, and were allegedly possessed by demons.

Reportedly, during “counseling sessions” with Shetler, he would rub oil on their bodies to remove the demons.

The teens are now between 19 and 20 years old and follow him everywhere, according to a probable cause statement.

On March 2, 2026, a 16-year-old girl spoke to investigators.

She stayed at the retreat for three weeks when she was 13 to 14 years old in June and July 2024.

The victim said one night, Shetler lay on top of her in bed for “counseling.”

Another time, she said he rubbed oil on her pubic area to exorcise an evil demon.

There are further disturbing accounts of Shetler’s behavior in that report. There is also this detail suggesting the type of relationship Shetler attempted to foster with the girls:

Law enforcment also found thousands of handwritten notes and letters from the young girls to Shetler, in which they and he referred to him as “daddy.”

It sounds like this arrest was a long time coming. At first look, the investigators appear to have done a thorough job — based on the sheer number of witnesses and victims who came forward to build the case.

Sam Shetler is currently being held in Cooper County Jail, with bond set at $100,000. His next hearing will be a counsel status hearing, on Tuesday March 31, at Cooper County Courthouse.

Get the Amish in your inbox

Join 15,000 email subscribers. No spam. 100% free

 

 

 

Subscribe