( CNN ) -- Three Ohio Amish men remained in police custody Monday after allegedly assaulting other members of their local community in part by forcibly cutting off hair and beards -- a particularly egregious offense in Amish society . Lester Mullet , 26 , Johnny Mullet , 38 , and Levi Miller , 53 , were arrested last Friday , according to Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla . Additional arrests are expected , Abdalla said . Four alleged attacks have taken place since September 6 , Abdalla said . The three men are accused of breaking into multiple homes and inflicting a series of cuts and bruises while forcibly cutting facial and other hair from men , women , and children . The attacks , according to Abdalla , were instigated by an extreme Amish splinter group led by Lester and Johnny Mullet 's father -- Bishop Sam Mullet . `` The leader of this group ... -- I call it a cult -- was shunned from his faith some years ago , '' Abdalla said in regard to Bishop Mullet . `` He basically thumbed his nose '' at others . `` Nothing moves in this ( particular ) Amish community unless ( Bishop Mullet ) says it moves , '' Abdalla said . Amish men typically grow beards in accordance with their religious practice , according to Donald Kraybill , an Amish scholar at Elizabethtown College . Amish women often do not cut their hair , Kraybill said . `` Amish-on-Amish violence is extremely rare , '' Kraybill said . `` This is very odd and clearly outlier behavior , an aberration in Amish society . '' This `` is a difficult , terrible crime , '' Abdalla said . `` We are doing everything we can do . '' CNN 's Logan Burruss contributed to this report .
3 Amish men in Ohio allegedly assaulted other Amish men , women , and children . The men allegedly broke into homes and cut beards and other hair . The men belong to an extremist religious group , local sheriff says .