NEW YORK TIMES: The leader of a dissident Amish sect was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday for a series of bizarre beard- and hair-cutting attacks on other Ohio Amish that drew national attention.
Samuel Mullet Sr., 67, the leader, was sentenced in Federal District Court in Cleveland, for coordinating assaults that prosecutors argued were motivated by religious intolerance. Fifteen of his followers, including six women, were given lesser sentences ranging from one year and one day to seven years by Judge Dan Aaron Polster…
The trial of the 16 defendants, including three of Mr. Mullet’s sons, unveiled a tiny sect in thrall to its leader, who in the name of purity abolished Sunday church services and punished men for ogling non-Amish women by confining them to chicken coops. Testimony also detailed how Mr. Mullet pressured married female followers to have sex with him, including a daughter-in-law.… (more)
