Lawsuit in McAlisterville, Pennsylvania, alleges abuse and human trafficking at Mennonite-linked farm

A federal lawsuit filed Nov. 17 in federal court in Allentown alleges that boys and young men were subjected to extreme punishments at Liberty Ridge Farm in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. Two former residents filed the suit and claim they were held in violation of federal human trafficking laws. The complaint identifies them by initials, and this article does not name them. The supplied reports are both dated 2011, but the first describes alleged abuses from 2011 to 2019, so the filing year is not clear from the material provided.

Liberty Ridge Farm was founded in 2011 in McAlisterville and sits on an 80-acre property not far from the Snyder County border. According to a separate report, since at least 2011 parents of Mennonite boys and young men sent their sons to the farm in McAlisterville. Citing court documents, that report says parents were told the farm would provide spiritual guidance, structure and a “closely supervised homelike setting.” Parents were also told their sons would leave as reformed members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church.

The lawsuit names Liberty Ridge Farm and its owner, Martin Nelson, as defendants. It also names the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church of Ephrata and Related Areas and Mennonite Messianic Mission. The lawsuit’s allegations are not findings of a court. The supplied material does not report any response from the defendants.

According to the lawsuit, families paid $2,300 for residents to be at the farm during the alleged abuse period. The complaint states that residents performed unpaid labor, often six days per week. It further alleges that they were punished with limited diets of rice, beans and water, forced to drag chains, and restrained with zip ties. Protecting those who cannot defend themselves is at the center of these claims (Proverbs 31:8-9).

One of the former residents said he arrived at the farm in 2011 at age 14 and stayed until 2014, when he was 17. He said he received no schooling while there.