Alabama police have arrested seven people so far in a terrifying child sex trafficking ring that involved an underground bunker in the small town of Brent.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said they opened an investigation into concerns about possible sex abuse on Feb. 4. Four months later, they announced arrests and unbelievable details about what they uncovered.
‘I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there was a limit to it, I think we’ve reached it.’
Initially, police announced four arrests on Saturday related to investigation into the bunker and said that at least six children had been drugged and raped, according to Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones. The storm shelter was being used as an underground bunker.
The four men arrested were identified as William Chase McElroy, Dalton Terrell, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, and Timothy St. John. Some of the suspects had allegedly confessed to their crimes, according to Jones.
“It’s just unimaginable that someone could do this to a child,” he said. “Children are defenseless, and they depend on adults to take care of them and protect them. And then when adults do these types of things to them, it’s just really horrific.”
McElroy was charged with four counts of first-degree rape, six counts of first-degree human trafficking, six counts of first-degree sodomy, and four counts of first-degree kidnapping.
Terrell was charged with six counts of first-degree rape, 12 counts of first-degree sodomy, and five counts of first-degree human trafficking.
Trejo-Velazquez was charged with six counts of first-degree human trafficking.
Timothy St. John was charged with two counts of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, four counts of human trafficking, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of bestiality, and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals.
On Wednesday, Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade announced three more arrests.
Rebecca Brewer was charged with eight counts of human trafficking, eight counts of first-degree human kidnapping, and three counts of sexual torture.
Ricky Terrell was charged with one count of rape, but other charges are pending.
Sarah Louis Terrell was charged with one count of sexual torture and two counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old.
Investigators said that some of the offenders were parents of the victims, who ranged in age from 3 to 15 years old. The number of victims increased from six to ten.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for 33 years, and this is absolutely the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen when it comes to the victimization of children. I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there was a limit to it, I think we’ve reached it,” Wade said.
Wade said that people would make “appointments” to pay for sexual assault of the children at the bunker.
Images from the underground bunker were released in hopes of jogging the memories of others who might have been similarly victimized.
“There were chairs and beds and things of that nature, and the children were drugged by Mr. Trejo and tied to the bed, into the chair, into a pole. And then people would come and pay money to have sex with these children,” Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones said.
“It absolutely infuriates me. But we have to kind of put that aside and just do the job. That’s all we can do,” Jones said.
Investigators believe there may be even more perpetrators and victims to be discovered, and more charges may be filed against those already arrested.
“There are some allegations with individuals that we will have a hard time identifying, just because we don’t know their names. And the children were drugged, according to one of the co-defendants. And so they may not be able to recognize or be able to identify anyone,” Jones added.
Victims were handed over to the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
Brent is a small town of only about 2,900 residents in the center of the state.
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