RETURN TO AMISH Jeremiah Raber apologizes for attacking wife Carmela

Return To Amish star Jeremiah Raber was arrested in Florida last weekend and charged with domestic violence against his wife, Carmela Raber. According to the police report, Jeremiah allegedly threw hot coffee on Carmela’s lap after a verbal altercation, and she revealed to police officers that there was a frightening history of abuse that included her saying Jeremiah “strikes her on a daily basis.” Officers describe seeing “several large bruises on her legs and arms that were caused from the defendant striking her with a closed fist.”

After the arrest it appears that Carmela and Jeremiah have separated, and Jeremiah has been on Facebook sharing numerous links to Youtube songs and text graphics about true love and forgiveness. He revealed that he plans to get counseling, and he seemed to think that would fix everything. “Personal Counseling for both of us will do us both allot of good,” he wrote. “Then on to marriage counseling and our marriage is golden.”

Carmela hinted at a reconciliation with a Facebook post on Wednesday. “Stayin doing what i have to to get right,” she wrote along with e heart emoji. She later deleted the post and it appears that the couple remains apart for now.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah may have started going to counseling already because today he did something unexpected — he apologized. Here is his statement:

Please allow me to apologize for what I did last week. My behavior was extremely inappropriate, immature, and lacked the respect she deserved. It was a very bad idea to do what I did

It was embarrassing, and I learned that she didn’t deserve my poor behavior. In the future, I have every intention of curbing my thoughtless actions and learn to adjust my behavior befitting the environment and situation. I’m going to go thru personal counseling to better me an the marriage.

Again, I am sorry for my actions and I hope that we can put this matter behind us. I look forward to be an inspiration to others dealing with the same issues

[Just a small tip – if you’re writing a public apology, it’s probably best if it doesn’t start the same exact way as “Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones. Well, unless you have those awesome congas to go with it!]

Jeremiah has always managed to maintain a loyal group of followers, but that group has dwindled dramatically since his arrest. And it doesn’t help that the Return To Amish premiere featured numerous scenes in which Jeremiah was a chauvinistic ass towards Carmela (and all women).

Carmela is free to make her own decisions — just like she was free to marry Jeremiah — but I do hope for her sake that she at least spends some time apart from him to gain some perspective. I believe the separation will help both of them. Of course, it may be extremely difficult for Carmela because she has revealed that she “spent every penny I have for this family and neglected myself to be able to get a car, property while my husband gets to spend his money on lottery tickets and his gambling and whatever his heart desires.” What a nightmarish situation.

Judging from the numerous Return To Amish preview trailers for the rest of the season, it looks like we will get to see some of the couple’s issues first had, although I assume that it won’t go as far as to include any of the alleged violent altercations. Then again, Jeremiah has never seemed to be too concerned about how he acts when cameras are rolling, and the show’s producers have demonstrated in the past that they aren’t afraid of controversy, so who knows?

New episodes of Return To Amish air Sunday nights at 8/7c on TLC.

UPDATE – Jeremiah’s actions and apology have resulted in lots of negative comments, and he posted this response asking for positivity:

For all you nay sayers….. Yes i am getting counseling to better myself. So if you really want to see me succeed in it then you’ll stop with your negative comments and start saying uplifting things. How would you like it if someone kept throwing negative things In your face? Thanks to the ones who do actually say positive things. It helps me allot. I WILL SUCCEED

Despite my observations above about the Jeremiah Raber fan club dwindling, there are hundreds of supportive comments on his recent posts. It seems that #TeamJayber is alive and well.

UPDATE – It has been announced by an admin on Jeremiah’s Facebook fan page that he is stepping away from social media to “focus on him.” Click here for the full announcement as well as a recent update from Carmela.