JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio --

A former Amish member of Sam Mullet's Bergholz clan is speaking out about what life was like before he left.

"Ayden," who lived in the Bergholz community from 2000 to 2006, said he knows all about the town of Bergholz and what goes on in Mullet's Amish community because he's Mullet's son-in-law.

"I have enough inside information that I have no question if something is not done, there will be people that get hurt," said Ayden.

Ayden fled to an undisclosed location in Pennsylvania because he didn't want to live by Mullet's rules any more.

In this national story, five Amish members have been criminally charged, accused of attacking other Amish members and cutting their beards. Those members are out of jail on bond, facing a preliminary hearing set for Wednesday. Some of those members said they were just following orders from their leader, Mullet.

Ayden allowed an Ohio television station to record their conversation, during which he discussed what life was like living by Mullet's rules and the price to pay if someone disagreed with Mullet.

"He would take the wife from the man. The wife would have to go and live with him," said Ayden. "The husband of that wife would have to go to the chicken coop or out in the barn in the middle of the winter, summer, day and night."

And Ayden said he fears what might still happen someday.

"I'm not surprised. If I have to call the sheriff someday and say, 'There are a lot of dead people lying around here.' That would not be a surprise to me, nor would it be a surprise to the sheriff of that county," said Ayden.

Another Amish member, Arlene Miller, said she helped get another family out of Bergholz, having heard many stories.

"The brainwashing, the beatings, the locking up, the number of wives, the women he is using," said Miller.

Ayden said the clan is a cult, but Mullet said it isn't. Instead, Mullet said there's value in punishing people who don't follow church teachings.

"We don't obey the laws out here, or you don't obey the law, you're punished," said Mullet, a Bergholz bishop. "And it's the same way with the church."