Jailed Missouri Amish leader facing new charges including manslaughter
By Harper Cook
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KOMU) — A man who led an Amish retreat in Cooper County is now facing additional charges, including involuntary manslaughter, in connection to allegations of abuse in the community.
Sam Shetler, 42, is now being charged with three counts of trafficking for the purposes of forced labor, one count of first-degree sodomy, four counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, according to court records.
Shetler was initially charged with two counts of trafficking for the purposes of forced labor and one count of first-degree sodomy.
The new charges follow interviews that the Cooper County Sheriff’s Office conducted with more people who had contact with Shetler, according to court documents. The interviews were conducted in the days following Shetler’s arrest, according to court documents.
The interviews revealed more allegations of sexual abuse by Shetler and an allegation that he misled people in the community into believing he had medical expertise, which led to the death of a 6-month-old, according to court documents.
Shetler owned and operated Mercy and Truth, a retreat for Amish and Mennonite community members, for years before his arrest on March 25, according to court documents. A probable cause statement written by a Cooper County Sheriff’s Office detective sergeant described the retreat as being for individuals who are “morally or mentally disabled and or in need of counseling or therapy services.”
The charges Shetler initially faced were filed in connection to alleged incidents dating back to 2022, and the new charges filed Monday are related to alleged incidents from 2014-2016, 2021 and 2022, according to court records. Shetler has pleaded not guilty to the original charges and has his next court appearance on Tuesday, where his attorney is expected to make a motion to reduce his bond. His bond is currently set at $100,000 cash or surety, according to court records.
Death of a baby A new probable cause statement filed Monday alleges that Shetler was involved in the death of a 6-month-old child in March 2025. The Cooper County detective sergeant investigating the case against Shetler interviewed someone who worked at Mercy and Truth on April 7, 2026, in which the investigator learned more information about the death of the child, according to the probable cause statement.
The child had been sick for about four days and was having issues breathing, even “turning blue” on several occasions, according to the probable cause statement, which cited testimony from the infant’s parents.
The child was taken to Shetler, who was known in the community as a practitioner and holistic doctor who had medical expertise, according to the probable cause statement.
Shetler allegedly provided a breathing treatment of lavender oil in a diffuser and gave instructions for how to use it on the infant, according to the statement. The child was put down for a nap on March 6, 2025, and about an hour later, he was found blue in color and unresponsive, according to the statement. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the statement.
An autopsy report from the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office said the child died from pneumonia and had multiple viruses, including RSV and the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the probable cause statement.
“The negligence of Sam Shetler who identifies himself as a ‘practitioner’ and carries himself as one with medical knowledge was aware of this substantial and unjustifiable risk which constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in this situation involving any unwell or ill child,” the Cooper County detective sergeant who investigated the case wrote in the probable cause statement.
Kidnapping and sexual abuse charges Another new probable cause statement filed Monday alleges that Shetler made unwanted sexual contact with a woman and threatened her to prevent her from leaving the retreat. The woman told the Cooper County Sheriff’s Office that Shetler told her that if she tried to escape, he would kidnap her and hold her longer, according to the statement.
The statement also details the accounts of three other women who said they stayed at the retreat between 2014 and 2016 to learn how to belong in the Amish community. The women were between 19 and 20 years old at the time, according to the statement.
The women said that at the retreat, they witnessed Shetler pulling out the teeth of a young boy as punishment, and they said they each tried to escape at different times throughout their stays, according to the probable cause statement.
The women said that at the retreat, they were forced to take pills, up to 80 a day at one point, and were told they were “demon possessed” because they would not submit to Shetler, according to the probable cause statement.
One woman said she escaped but the other two did not and were allegedly sent to a different retreat in a different state until they would comply with Shetler’s orders, according to the statement. After returning to the retreat in Cooper County, the two women eventually escaped at separate times while Shetler was not present at the retreat, according to the probable cause statement.
The Cooper County Sheriff’s Office investigator interviewed the women on March 30 and 31, 2026, according to the statement.
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Jacob Richeynews@komu.com5738846397