Latest news with #sextrafficking
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Inside the Alabama Torture Bunker, Where Even Parents Are Accused of Abusing Kids
Seven people have been charged so far in connection with the crime operation, which appears to have begun in 2022 in Brent, about 50 miles southwest of BirminghamNEED TO KNOW At least 10 children in central Alabama were harmed in a harrowing child abuse case involving sex trafficking and torture, authorities said Some of the children's parents and relatives are among the suspects Two women and five men have been arrested with more arrests expected, according to authoritiesAt least 10 children in central Alabama were harmed in a harrowing child abuse case, in which they were sex trafficked — some of them by their own parents or other relatives — according to a local sheriff, who also said that that may have been why the abuse went undetected. Seven people have been charged so far in connection with the crime operation, which appears to have begun in 2022 in Brent, about 50 miles southwest of Birmingham, Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade said. Most of the victims were between 3 and 10 years old, and one was 15, Wade said. The children are now in the custody of the state and are receiving medical and psychological support. The abuse occurred in a bunker, which was built as a storm shelter, Wade said. He said the suspects charged people to visit the bunker and abuse the children. Officials began investigating in February after state child welfare officials alerted Bibb County authorities to the possibility of sexual abuse occurring at a home near the bunker. Wade described the bunker as a concrete structure partially underground with a mattress and a toilet. 'I'm afraid there's going to be more victims and many more suspects,' Wade said at a recent news conference. Those charged include William McElroy, Dalton Terrell, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, Timothy St. John, Sara Terrell, Ricky Terrell and Rebecca Brewer. All but Ricky and Sara Terrell have been charged with human trafficking, while McElroy, Dalton Terrell, Trejo-Velazquez and St. John are also charged with rape, sodomy and kidnapping. St. John also faces charges of bestiality and aggravated cruelty to animals. Sara Terrell is charged with one count of sexual torture and two counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old. Brewer, the other woman who was arrested, is charged with eight counts each of human trafficking and kidnapping and three counts of sexual torture. The seven are in jail either because they were denied bond at a hearing or were stipulated not to receive one, Bryan Jones, assistant district attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit of Alabama, tells PEOPLE. Jones says he anticipates Brewer and both Ricky and Sara Terrell will face additional charges once their cases are presented to a grand jury. It was not immediately clear whether any of them had lawyers. "This is by far the worst case that I've ever had to deal with in terms of the the type of abuse, the length of the abuse, and the ages of the victims that were abused," Jones tells PEOPLE. Wade also said it was the worst child abuse case he'd seen in his 33-year career. "Some of the victims, the offenders were their parents and different relatives," Wade said. Related: Bunker of Hell: Men Allegedly Paid to Rape Small Children in Underground Enclosure for More Than a Year The district attorney's office declined to discuss the alleged relationships between the victims and the suspects to protect the identities of the children. According to the sheriff, the children were sometimes tied to a pole or bound to a bed or a chair in the bunker and were sometimes drugged to make them compliant. 'Sometimes, there would be multiple people that would come by and victimize these children on a nightly basis," he said. The operation is believed to have brought in up to $1,000 a night. "It's hard to fathom that you could do this to another human being, but what makes it even worse is they're children and their ages," Jones tells PEOPLE. "You're talking about one child that was still either in or just coming out of diapers. It's just unbelievable that somebody could do this to someone that is so small and so innocent." "It's hard to believe," he adds. Read the original article on People
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Trump says he has not been asked to pardon Maxwell following Epstein interviews
US President Donald Trump has said he has not been asked to pardon disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell following her 'truthful' answers to government questions about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to massage rooms for paedophile financier Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004. Advertisement The US Department of Justice met with the 63-year-old convicted sex-trafficker last week – interviews in which her lawyer David Markus said his client would 'testify truthfully'. The US government faced a backlash from Mr Trump's support base following words from Attorney General Pam Bondi that there was no evidence Epstein had a 'client list'. Following the criticisms, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell over the course of two days – with Mr Blanche saying: 'No-one is above the law and no lead is off-limits.' Mr Markus previously said the disgraced socialite had not been offered a pardon as part of the interview process. Advertisement In a short statement ahead of the meetings, the lawyer said: 'I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. 'We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.' Questioned on whether he had been asked to pardon Maxwell, the US President told reporters on Monday: 'Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it. 'It's in the news – that aspect of it – but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.' Advertisement During her three-week trial in 2021, jurors heard prosecutors describe Maxwell as 'dangerous', and were told details of how she helped entice vulnerable teenagers to Epstein's various properties for him to sexually abuse. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the southern district of New York (SDNY) in June 2022. Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide. Advertisement
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump says he has not been asked to pardon Maxwell following Epstein interviews
US President Donald Trump has said he has not been asked to pardon disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell following her 'truthful' answers to government questions about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to massage rooms for paedophile financier Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004. The US Department of Justice met with the 63-year-old convicted sex-trafficker last week – interviews in which her lawyer David Markus said his client would 'testify truthfully'. The US government faced a backlash from Mr Trump's support base following words from Attorney General Pam Bondi that there was no evidence Epstein had a 'client list'. Following the criticisms, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell over the course of two days – with Mr Blanche saying: 'No-one is above the law and no lead is off-limits.' Mr Markus previously said the disgraced socialite had not been offered a pardon as part of the interview process. In a short statement ahead of the meetings, the lawyer said: 'I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. 'We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.' Questioned on whether he had been asked to pardon Maxwell, the US President told reporters on Monday: 'Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it. 'It's in the news – that aspect of it – but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.' During her three-week trial in 2021, jurors heard prosecutors describe Maxwell as 'dangerous', and were told details of how she helped entice vulnerable teenagers to Epstein's various properties for him to sexually abuse. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the southern district of New York (SDNY) in June 2022. Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.
New York Times
3 days ago
- New York Times
Seven Charged in Child Abuse Ring Run From an Alabama Bunker, Officials Say
In a rural stretch of Bibb County in central Alabama, past pine forests and gravel roads, deputies uncovered what a sheriff called the most disturbing child abuse case he's seen in his 33 years of working in law enforcement. Inside a concrete bunker near a home, at least 10 children were harmed as part of what the Bibb County Sheriff's Office described as a criminal operation involving sex trafficking, torture and the theft of innocence. Most of the victims were between 3 and 10 years old; one was 15, officials said. 'I know God's forgiveness is boundless, but if there was a limit to it, I think we've reached it,' Sheriff Jody Wade said, describing the acts as beyond comprehension and the kind that fracture faith in human nature. At a news conference on Wednesday, Sheriff Wade said seven people, including family members and parents, were charged in connection with the trafficking operation in Brent, Ala., a city of 2,600 people about an hour south of Birmingham, where children were harmed in the bunker's underground structure. The charges include human trafficking, rape, sodomy and sexual torture, Sheriff Wade said. Two women and five men were charged. 'I'm afraid there's going to be more victims and many more suspects,' he said. A photo released by the sheriff's office shows the inside of the bunker: a stained mattress in a corner, a black metal folding chair beside it, a dirty white pedestal fan, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The sheriff said that the victims did not live in the bunker, which was built as a storm shelter, but that it was where the adults held them and allowed others to abuse them. The victims were restrained to a chair and bed, Sheriff Wade said, adding that those children who were old enough to fight back were given something to make them a 'little bit more drowsy and a little bit more compliant.' Sheriff Wade said that the suspects charged people to visit the bunker and abuse the children. The operation sometimes brought in $1,000 a night. Sheriff Wade said the investigation into the ring suggests that the abuse began around 2022. The sheriff's office started its investigation after Alabama child welfare officials alerted it to possible abuse at a home connected to the property where the bunker was found. It was not immediately clear when the authorities began their investigation. The children, now in the custody of the state, are receiving medical, emotional and psychological support. The sheriff said they have been meeting with counselors. 'We can't heal from this,' Sheriff Wade said. 'But you can move on as best you can.' For some of the younger children, memories appear fragmented, with details surfacing slowly. Sheriff Wade said he hoped the trauma the older children faced will fade with time, though he acknowledged it could potentially have a lasting impact. It remained unclear what will be done with the bunker once the investigation concludes. Asked about it during the news conference, Sheriff Wade said he had not yet considered it. 'If I had my way about it, we'd blow it up,' he said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maxwell's lawyer says she's undecided on appearing for congressional testimony
A lawyer for Ghislaine Maxwell said his client is still deciding whether she will honor a congressional subpoena demanding her testimony next month before House lawmakers. 'We have to make a decision about whether she will do that or not,' said David Oscar Markus, an attorney for Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and co-conspirator of the deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein. 'That's been scheduled for the week of August 11th and we haven't gotten back to them on whether we'll do that.' Markus delivered these remarks after Maxwell completed a two-day interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the Trump administration's continued inquiry into the charges against Epstein's circle. The comments suggest Maxwell is weighing whether to assert privileges to resist the House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee's effort to compel her testimony. Importantly, Maxwell is still appealing her conviction on the sex trafficking conspiracy that led to a 20-year jail sentence. If Maxwell asserts her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, there's little Congress can do to pierce it, except offer her a rarely used form of immunity. It's unclear if the Justice Department negotiated any sort of immunity agreement with Maxwell for her testimony this week. But Markus said Maxwell answered every question posed by Blanche, covering about 100 different people. 'She didn't hold back,' he said. Markus also said there's been no discussion with the Trump administration about a possible pardon 'just yet, ' adding, 'We hope [President Donald Trump] exercises that power in the right and just way." The Justice Department has long housed deep doubts about Maxwell's credibility — a sentiment Speaker Mike Johnson echoed this week. 'Could she be counted on to tell the truth? Is she a credible witness? I mean, this is a person who's been sentenced to many, many years in prison for terrible, unspeakable, conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people,' Johnson told reporters. 'I mean, can we trust what she's going to say? … I don't know, but we'll have to see.' GOP leaders so far have pointed to the Justice Department interviewing Maxwell as a positive step, with more questions lingering over the congressional push to get information from the Epstein associate. A spokesperson for Oversight Committee Republicans had no comment Friday afternoon. Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
