Mary Byler grew up in an Amish home where she was serially molested from the age of 4 or 5 by her father and brothers. She repeatedly told her mom, who blamed the abuse on Mary, saying, “If only you prayed more these bad things wouldn’t happen to you.”
People are familiar with the Amish community through shows such as TLC’s Breaking Amish. But, it only helped viewers to see members of the Amish community abandoning their traditional life and adopting the English way of life. But, Peacock’s new show Sins Of The Amish covered much darker stories than what is usually shown on TV.
After the premiere of the show, Mary posted on her Facebook page, “Thank you, Linda. I appreciate all the work you do behind the scenes. You are an amazing person who has contributed immensely to appropriate information about Amish being out there as well as abuse prevention resources”.
Mary Byler On Sins Of The Amish
Peacock’s new docu-series Sin Of The Amish explores some truths that are far more disturbing than what is generally portrayed. In the show, four former female members of Amish and Mennonite traditionalist Christian communities came forward alleging a toxic pattern of sexual abuse and the shaming of silencing of victims that’s occurred across the hundreds of years they’ve existed in America.
Along with sexual abuse, it also uncovered details on incestuous relations. Mary Byler is one of the females who appeared on the show. According to the show, Amish leaders made young women believe that rap* and incest are not just normal, but always the girl’s fault.
“This sex urge, once it is awakened and active in a young boy at the age of puberty and beyond, can become a powerful driving force within. Every decent girl will do her best to help him, and not make it harder for him. Even in your own home, if you have brothers in your teens, you should be mindful of this,” Mary read from her old sex education pamphlets titled To the Girl of Eleven. “Your brother innocently coming upon you and seeing your partly uncovered body may suddenly have strong sexual desires aroused within him. His intentions were not bad, but he suddenly finds himself a victim of your carelessness in the lust of his own body”.
However, her three brothers; David, Eli, and Johnny, abused her multiple times even though she took all the precautions to avoid physical abuse from her family members. When the matter was brought to church elders, Byler’s brothers confessed.
Mary said they were sentenced to the most extreme punishment the community gave for sexual assault — six weeks of ex-communication, which she said only meant not being able to interact with church members. She was then told to forgive her brothers. Instead, she went to authorities outside the Amish community.
Mary eventually left the community and took her two abusive brothers to court. When Don Henry from the Vernon County, Wisconsin, Sheriff’s Department spoke with Amy’s brother, Johnny, he freely admitted to rap*ng her, ABC News reported. He only disagreed on how many times it happened.
Henry said, “He wanted to know how many times she had said, and with him alone she said it happened between 100 and 150 times. He thought it was too many and that he thought it was between 50 and 75 times.”
Johnny reportedly rap*d her more than 100 times. He was sentenced to ten years probation and one year in the county jail “at night. Eli was sentenced to eight years in state prison.
Where Is Mary Byler Today?
Mary Byler, before and after the show, was focused on advocating for awareness of abuse victims from the Amish community. After leaving the Amish community in 2004, she has taken a new responsibility to protect victims in and out of the community. “If somebody, some girl or some boy or some child who’s being hurt by somebody, would get some good out of this story. That would make me feel really good,” Mary told ABCNews in 2006.
Mary Byler Relationship Status
There is no information on Mary Byler’s current relationship status.
Mary Byler Age
As of 2022, Mary Byler is 37 years old.
Is Mary Byler On Instagram And Facebook?
Find Mary Byler on Facebook (@Mary.A.Byler). She doesn’t seem to be on Instagram.
Mary Byler Job Now
After leaving the Amish community in 2004, Mary got a driver’s license and earned her GED. Since then, she has also joined the Army in March 2005. Speaking with ABC News in 2005, she told the outlet that she hoped to pursue a career in nursing.
Mary used to read books a lot and she would imagine being elsewhere. “I would read books and I’d imagine. I had a great imagination that would take me to faraway places, you know, places where I was afraid I would never be, but wanted to be,” Mary told “20/20’s” Elizabeth Vargas.
Mary says she’d use those fantasies as an emotional escape.
Related FAQs
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Where Was Mary Byler Born?
Mary Byler was born in Wisconsin. She and her family lived in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania before moving to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Her biological father died in a buggy accident when she was 5. Her mother Sally did little to nothing to protect Mary from her three brothers.
Before her father’s death, Mary told her mother, Sally, that he was molesting her. At first, Sally didn’t believe her daughter. Mary said that her mother told her, “He says he’s sorry and you have to forgive him”. After her husband’s death, Sally raised Mary and her eight sons on her own. Her household wasn’t the tidiest, and the children didn’t always listen to her. Sally got particularly frustrated with Mary, who had inherited her large almond-shaped eyes and tendency to talk out of turn.
In 1996, Sally remarried a man named William Kempf, whom she’d met on a bus ride. The cabinetmaker had a mean streak, and he took to hitting Sally, Mary, and Mary’s younger half-sister.
The Vernon County court also sentenced Sally to two years probation for failure to protect her daughter. Her stepfather was sentenced to 18 months probation for battery and disorderly conduct.
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How Tall Is Mary Byler?
Mary Byler stands tall at 5 feet 8 inches.
