Five charged for ritual child sex crimes
childadvocate
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/6462729
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1564393.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_family_sex_crimes
describes crimes
Five charged for ritual child sex crimes
By Donald Bradley, AAP November 12, 2009
A Missouri man and his four sons have been charged with the
ritualistic sex abuse of his six grandchildren, and police are
searching the family farm for buried bodies.
Officials declined to say whether the remains they were searching for
were those of adults or children but said they were investigating
allegations of murder. "There have been indications of a body or
bodies in numerous locations," Lafayette County Sheriff Kerrick
Alumbaugh told a press conference.
The backhoes began digging before noon on Wednesday, and a more
careful search was undertaken to find glass jars filled with notes the
children wrote describing the horrific abuse.
"When the victims were younger they were writing down what had
happened to them and placing it in those jars and subsequently burying
it in the property in hopes to forget about the occurrences," said
Bill Lowe, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol.
The alleged crimes came to light in August when a 26-year-old woman
approached police with the suppressed memories of years of abuse at
the hands of her father, uncles and grandfather.
Her four sisters and brother are cooperating with police and more
charges are expected to be filed, Lowe said. "We believe there are
other victims out there," Alumbaugh said. "Pedophiles don't stop with
just one. They keep going." The woman described nine incidents of
abuse which she believes began when she was about five and ended after
she became pregnant and was forced to have an abortion at age 11. The
abuse included elaborate "wedding" ceremonies in which the girls would
pick flowers to adorn their hair and wear special dresses....The
alleged abuse occurred between 1988 and 1995 at the farm in Bates
City, Missouri. The five men were formally charged with various counts
of child sex abuse on Tuesday and remained in jail on Wednesday after
a judge set bonds ranging from $US30,000 ($A32,275) to $US75,000
($A80,690). Charged in the crime were: Burrell Edward Mohler Sr, 77;
Burrell Edward Mohler, Jr, 51, the father of the six children; Jared
Leroy Mohler, 48; Roland Neil Mohler, 47; and David A Mohler, 52.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/6462729
Child sex abuse allegations may turn into a murder case By DONALD
BRADLEY The Kansas City Star 11/11/09 LEXINGTON, Mo. They said they
were just little girls trying to bury their horror in jars around the
farm. They wanted somebody to know what happened to them. So,
according to authorities, the sisters wrote notes about the years of
sexual abuse at the hands of older relatives and hid them in the
earth. Then the children - one was a boy - buried the pain and anguish
within themselves. Years would pass. But on Wednesday, authorities
came to the farm south of Bates City, Mo., to dig for the notes - and
possibly a body. With a man and his middle-aged sons in jail,
investigators descended onto the rural property looking for evidence
of rape, sodomy, bestiality and possible homicide....The five men were
charged with 14 felonies, including forcible sodomy and forcible rape
with a child less than 12 years old and use of a child in a sexual
performance. The sheriff said he expected more charges to be
filed....The woman who came forward alleged that the abuse against her
began at age 5, when the girls were forced to "rotate" sleeping in the
same bed as the senior Mohler.
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1564393.html
5 men charged with sex crimes against
children
describes crimes
AP By Bill Draper And Heather Hollingsworth 11/11/09 LEXINGTON, Mo.
Authorities on Wednesday were searching a rural property in western
Missouri for bodies and buried glass jars containing notes written
more than 15 years ago by children who may have documented sexual
abuse by five members of their own family. Lafayette County Sheriff
Kerrick Alumbaugh pleaded for the public's help, saying investigators
"believe that there are other victims out there, and we believe people
in the public can give us more information." Alumbaugh said
authorities believe there may be bodies buried on the property outside
Bates City, which is about 30 miles east of Kansas City. He refused to
say to whom any of the bodies would have belonged. The property and a
nearby home is owned by a man unrelated to the case who is cooperating
with authorities....
The five men were arrested Tuesday and are charged with several
felonies, including forcible sodomy, rape with a child younger than 12
and use of a child in a sexual performance. The allegations, which
include bestiality and forcing an 11-year-old to have an abortion,
date from 1988 to 1995....Three of the five men are lay ministers in
the Community of Christ church whose licenses have been suspended,
church spokeswoman Linda L. Booth said....The woman who came forward
claimed some of the men sexually abused her and her siblings, forced
her to have sex with a dog, forced the siblings into fake marriages
with relatives and forced her to watch as her brother was abused.....
"The church takes seriously the allegations that have been made and
suspended the priesthood licenses of three lay ministers: Burrell
Mohler Sr., David Mohler and Jared Mohler," the church said in a
statement. Booth said one of the men, whom she refused to identify,
had been registered to work with children but that license has been
terminated. The Community of Christ, headquartered in Independence,
split from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1860 and
was known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints until 2001. It has about 250,000 members worldwide.
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