UPDATE: Court documents describe Boonville Amish retreat official as “cult-like”; he’s facing felony charges

The leader of an Amish retreat in Boonville for those in the Amish and Mennonite community has pleaded not guilty to sodomy/attempted sodomy and two counts of trafficking for the purpose of slavery. The Cooper County Sheriff’s office confirms this has been a multi-year investigation.

Court documents say 42-year-old Sam Shetler owns and operates a retreat called “Mercy and Truth on Hidden Valley Court” in Boonville.

The Cooper County Sheriff department’s five-page probable cause statement says their office has received numerous calls about “cult-like” suspicious behavior involving Shetler for four years but the reports were unable to be fully investigated due to cultural differences.

Court documents allege an Amish man with disabilities was kicked in the genitals and locked in a “safe room” for weeks. The court documents allege that Shetler operated the retreat “by force, fraud and coercion” and also forces some of those at the retreat to take more than 100 pills a day. The court documents say those who wouldn’t take the pills or obey Sam would have to sit in “the icehouse”, be chained up, force fed the pills or other punishment. The court documents allege that Shetler “would mentally manipulate and mentally torture juvenile females.”

The court documents quote others as saying they were forced to work at Shetler’s farm and sawmill and were not paid. One said he was forced to work at a horse barn until midnight.