STEUBENVILLE, OH (WOIO) -
Hair-raising assaults are taking center stage in an Amish community near Bergholz.
19 Action News has learned a number of sheriff's departments are investigating after a rash of Amish homes were broken into, and victims had their beards and hair forcefully cut off.
The men - who are all part of the "Bergholz Clan - are accused of going to the home of a Carroll County man, dragging him outside by his beard and cutting it off.
A similar incident happened in Holmes County, when the group of Amish bullies burst into a house, cut the hair off the women as well as the hair and beards of the men.
Police suspect the Bishop Sam Mullet is behind the latest attack. He's accused of using horse drawn buggies to transport as many as 27 men to people's homes where authorities say they yank men out beards and cut off the hair of any one else in the house that the bishop may deem unworthy.
Another incident where the hair was cut from men and women happened inside a Trumbull County home.
The violent hair cuts are meant to humiliate and punish those Amish whose faith, according to some, has weakened.
The sheriff is considering felonious assault, burglary and possibly kidnapping charges.
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