By Harper Cook
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KOMU) — The leader of the Mercy and 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.
Mercy and Truth is a retreat for Amish and Mennonite community members that Shelter 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,” the Facebook post, signed by Cooper County Sheriff Chris Class, said.
Between 2022 and 2026, the Cooper County Sheriff’s Office received numerous phone calls regarding “cult-like” suspicious, abusive, sexual and neglectful behavior from Shetler to his residents at the retreat, the probable cause statement said. Due to cultural differences, several reports were unfounded or unable to be fully investigated, according to the probable cause statement.
The Cooper County Sheriff’s Office received a report on Jan. 9 from someone who said he was at the retreat when he was 15 years old, according to the statement. During that time, he allegedly observed a boy be forced to sleep in a cold attic all winter and allegedly saw an Amish man with disabilities be abused, according to the probable cause statement. The witness told the investigator that the man was locked in a “safe room” and “tied” with his hands behind his back and pepper was put in his eyes as punishment, according to the probable cause statement.
Another person reported that he was “ordered” by Shetler to take around 100 pills a day and then some sleeping pills and that most residents take around 100 pills a day, according to the probable cause statement. Some pills are “homemade” by Shetler while others are vitamins and minerals, according to the statement. The witness also allegedly witnessed Shetler “wrestle down” a female resident who was refusing to take her pills, saying he and sat on her chest, forced the pills into her mouth and held her mouth shut until she swallowed them, according to the probable cause statement.
The probable cause statement also stated someone explained that he and other young men and boys were forced to work at Sam’s private businesses and private farms, according to the statement. He said the workers allegedly were not paid for their labor and that the majority of them were not receiving counseling or therapy from Shetler, either, according to the probable cause statement.
Another person said they worked to train Shetler’s horses, they worked in the fields, they worked at a wood pallet shop or the sawmill, and they said they and were often “leased out” to “English” people for work and that any money that was to be paid was to be paid to Shetler only, according to the probable cause statement. He said he went to the retreat to receive counseling and guidance but was never given time with Shetler and instead was forced to work for him, 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.
The probable cause statement described interactions between Shetler and girls where Shetler allegedly had control over them because they were “demon possessed,” and the statement alleged that Shetler made them believe he was the only one who could control their “demons.”
“Through interviews, letters, and investigations, a consistent scheme, plan, and pattern was established,” the probable cause 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.”
The Sheriff’s Office conducted a search warrant on March 4 in the 11000 block of Hidden Valley Court at the retreat after a multi-year investigation, according to the Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office.
An arrest warrant was issued for Shetler on Wednesday, according to court records. He is being held at the Cooper County Jail, and his bond was set at $100,000 cash or surety.
Shelter’s next hearing, a counsel status hearing, is set for 10:30 a.m. March 31 at the Cooper County Courthouse.
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Jacob Richeynews@komu.com5738846397
