At least 10 children — as young as 2 years old — were held captive in an Alabama storm bunker for three years and sexually tortured through the use of tools like animal shock collars as part of a horrific sex trafficking ring organized by some of the victims’ own parents, police said.
So far, seven suspects have been arrested as part of the ring’s roundup, including three family members and two mothers whose children were also trapped and abused in the basement, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department said.
“I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there is a limit, we’ve reached it,” Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade said at a press conference Wednesday.
Rebecca Brewer, 29, Sara Louise Terrell, 41, Ricky Terrell, 44, Dalton Terrell, 21, William Chase McElroy, also 21, Andres Velazquez-Trejo, 29 and Timothy St. John, 23, all face a laundry list of charges ranging from sodomy and rape to sexual torture and human trafficking.
Each player arrested thus far played a specific role in the ring, according to investigators.
Velazquez-Trejo would allegedly drug the young victims — all between the ages of 2 and 15 years old — by putting a white powder in their drinks before bringing in clients who would pay up to $1,000 to have sex with the children.
Through it all, the selected children would be tied up during the act, often to the limited furniture in the room, including a grimy mattress, a chair, and a support pole, Bibb County Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones said.
The house itself was either owned by or near a home belonging to McElroy’s elderly grandparent, Jones said.
Two of the victims who were forced to perform sexual acts on each other told authorities that McElroy was the one who had both taught them the process and performed it on them himself, Jones said.
Sara Louise Terrell allegedly placed animal shock collars on the victims, which the suspects would use on the children’s genitals as a form of punishment and self-serving sexual gratification, according to public court documents.
These victims included both her children and Velazquez-Trejo and Brewer’s children, Wade said.
Velazquez-Trejo and Brewer share three children together. Brewer also has a fourth child from a separate relationship. It’s unclear how many were locked up in the basement alongside the other victims.
It’s unclear how many children belonging to Sara Louise Terrell were involved, or who their fathers were.
All three Terrells charged are related to each other, though their exact connection and the nature of their relationships is still unclear, Wade said.
Other arrested suspects were allegedly responsible for selling and purchasing the children, according to the court records. Velazquez-Trejo would additionally sell nude pictures of the victims, according to a criminal complaint.
Wade noted that “there’s no telling” how many more victims there may be in the grander trafficking scheme as the investigation continues in tandem with the Department of Homeland Security.
Part of the unified investigation will probe suspects’ potential affiliations with the Mexican gang Seranos, which makes a majority of its profits through child sex trafficking.
The victims are all in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources and are being given much-needed access to counselors.
“No child deserves this, the power and control of it, the stealing the innocence of a child and the horrible victimization they went through with these monsters,” Wade said.
“Some of the older children will carry this vividly for the rest of their lives. You can’t heal from this, but you can move on as best you can.”
Five of the already-indicted suspects will be arraigned in August.
If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
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