For the past three years, a child sex trafficking ring operated from an underground concrete bunker on the outskirts of a small, rural Alabama town. Children were chained to furniture, drugged and raped inside of a “den of horrors.”
It has left police shaken and officials saying it was “hard to hear” what happened to the kids.
It wasn’t until February when officials were called to the bunker and saw two victims performing sex acts that they learned about what was happening inside the nondescript home. They rescued the kids and made arrests - but now warn more might have been involved.
“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, according to the Washington Post.
The children told authorities they were performing what William McElroy, one of the suspects, had done to them or taught them to do, Bibb County Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones said. That led to the arrest of seven people in July, including McElroy. On August 6, an eighth person, Olivia Shailee Elam, 26, was arrested in connection to the case, ABC 33/40 reported.
The suspects have been charged with a slew of crimes, including numerous charges of rape, sexual abuse, trafficking and kidnapping, in what the sheriff said was the most horrible case he’d seen in decades. Here’s what we know about the case that has rocked Alabama:
The suspects
William Chase McElroy, 21, Dalton Terrell, 21, Andres Velazquez-Trejo, 29, Timothy St. John, 23, Ricky Terrell, 44, Sara Louise Terrell, 41, Rebecca Brewer, 29, and now, Olivia Shailee Elam, 26, all face an array of charges, ranging from rape and sodomy to kidnapping and human trafficking.
Their alleged victims included the children of Sara Louise Terrell as well as the children of Velazquez-Trejo and Brewer, authorities said. It was not clear how many children from each suspect were victims of the alleged abuse.
Most of the suspects had no serious criminal history in Alabama prior to this investigation, according to court records viewed by ABC 33/40.
Timothy St. John, who has the longest criminal record, including theft, criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, burglary, and other drug-related charges, now faces charges of rape, sodomy, human trafficking, kidnapping, bestiality and aggravated cruelty to animals.
William McElroy, Dalton Terrell and Andres Trejo-Velazquez are each charged with multiple counts of rape, sodomy, human trafficking, and kidnapping.
Rebecca Brewer faces charges of human trafficking, sodomy, kidnapping, sexual torture and aggravated child abuse, yet has no prior criminal record, ABC reported.
Ricky Terrell has previously faced drug-related offenses and possession of contraband. He’s now charged with multiple counts of rape, sodomy, human trafficking and kidnapping.
Sara Terrell faces charges of rape, sodomy, human trafficking, kidnapping, sexual torture and sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old. She had one previous charge for hindering prosecution.
Elam faces five counts of first-degree rape, nine counts of sodomy, nine counts of first-degree human trafficking involving minor sexual servitude, nine counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of aggravated child abuse and one count of sexual torture involving a child less than twelve years old.
An investigation into the suspects’ potential gang affiliations revealed that Trejo-Velazquez is a verified member of the Mexican gang Sureños, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed. The gang largely makes money through child sex trafficking, the sheriff said.
The suspects remain in the Bibb County Jail and are expected to be arraigned this month.
Inside the Alabama torture bunker
Chilling photos shared by authorities revealed the squalid condition inside the concrete bunker where children were allegedly lured under the guise of a safe refuge, but instead where horrifying abuse transpired for years, with authorities saying they believe it began around 2022.
The “refuge” had been transformed into a “den of horrors,” according to Wade.
“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,” Wade added.
Inside the cold, concrete bunker was little furniture, consisting of just an old, dingy bed, several chairs and other small pieces of furniture.
It’s furniture that the children would allegedly be tied up to and forced to perform sexual acts, the Assistant District Attorney said.
Over the years, the children were forced to endure intercourse, according to the investigation. Some suffered the abuse daily, with the suspects allegedly selling the children for the sexual acts, sometimes making up to $1,000 a night, police said.
One of the mothers reportedly involved in the abuse, Sara Louise Terrell, allegedly put animal shock collars on the children, which the suspects would also use on the children’s genitals, according to The New York Post.
The children were also allegedly drugged by Velazquez-Trejo, who put some kind of white powder into their drinks that would make them drowsy, authorities said.
“It’s hard to hear their stories and it’s hard to see pictures of this bunker where, according to some of the witnesses, they were drugged,” Jones said.
“As bad as it sounds with (Velazques-Trejo) drugging them, it may be a blessing in disguise because they don’t remember a lot of things,” Jones added. “I’m hopeful that they won’t have near the trauma they would have had if they had not been drugged.”
Records obtained by AL.com also showed that one of the suspects allegedly “sold” children “to various clientele for sexual pleasure.” Each suspect reportedly had a specific role in the alleged ring.
Before the eighth suspect was arrested, authorities said they believe their investigation will yield more victims and even more suspects. The rescued children are all now in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
Jones said there are allegations of up to another 12 men who may have paid to have sex with the children.
“We have no way of identifying these people unless somebody in the community comes forward and says this person told us they did this,” Jones said, adding that because of the drugs, the “children wouldn’t know who they are.”
