Amish Man Arrested in Two-State Child Sex Crimes Case

BOWLING GREEN, Mo. (CBS/AP) In rural Pike County, Mo., population 18,000, 26-year-old Chester Mast shocked the Amish community when allegations of child sex abuse led to his arrest in late May. Now Mast has been formally charged with two counts each of statutory rape and sodomy, plus one count of child sexual misconduct, for allegedly assaulting five underage girls.

The victims - four in Missouri and one in Wisconsin - are said to range in age from 5 to 16.

Officials in both jurisidictions said they rarely get reports of serious crimes involving the Amish.

Mast is a member of the "Old Order Amish" society in northwestern Missouri where the use of telephones, electricity, automobiles and other modern advances are forbidden. Authorities said three of the victims are Amish, one of which is Mast's cousin. Prosecutors say the alleged assaults took place as early as 2004 in Wisconsin and between July 2007 and March 2009 in Missouri.

"No matter where you go there are people who may violate other people's liberties and freedoms and peace of mind," said Pike County, Mo. Sheriff Stephen Korte.

No plea had yet been entered for Mast, who is being held on $100,000 bond in Pike County. In the event that Mast does make bail he will be transferred to Wisconsin and detained without bond, said Scott Blader, district attorney for Waushara County, Wis.