From the New York Post: 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 roundup of the ring, 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, 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.
According to a press release on Facebook, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division first opened an investigation into the case on February 4, 2025, following concerns regarding the sexual abuse of children in an underground bunker located in Brent, Alabama. They have arrested the suspects over the last several months, as the investigation has expanded.
Media has clarified that the victims ranged in age from 3 to 15 years old, with most under the age of 10. Authorities say they believe there are more victims out there, as well as additional suspects, and say the horrific operation has been ongoing for about 3 years.
Authorities believe this group is linked to a larger gang-related trafficking ring, and said one of the suspects, Andres Velazquez-Trejo, has connections to a violent gang called Serranos, a group that profits off child exploitation. Velazquez-Trejo is reportedly believed to be the person who ran the Alabama operation, and his legal status in the US is under investigation.
According to authorities, Velazquez-Trejo would drug the children by putting a white powder in their drinks. Then, he would bring in clients who would pay around $200 to have sex with the children. The sheriff said multiple clients would arrive on a nightly basis, and the group would earn “up to $1,000 per night.”
One of the suspects now arrested, Sara Louise Terrell, allegedly used animal shock collars on the victims, which were reportedly used on the children’s genitals as a form of punishment and self-serving sexual gratification, court documents state.
Some of the victims were Terrell’s own children.
Describing the horrific scene inside the storm shelter, Assistant District Attorney Brian Jones said, “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. It’s hard to fathom that someone can do this to a child.”
“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 also explained.
“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,” Sheriff Wade said.
WVTM13.com listed some of the charges against the suspects as follows:
- McElroy: rape, human trafficking, sodomy, kidnapping
- Dalton Terrell: rape, sodomy, human trafficking, kidnapping
- Trejo: trafficking
- St. John: rape, sodomy, kidnapping, beastiality, animal abuse
- Brewer: human trafficking
- Ricky Terrell: rape
- Sara Terrell: sexual torture/abuse, sexual abuse of a child less than 12
The suspects all reportedly lived in mobile homes within a one-mile area around the underground storm shelter bunker where ‘clients’ would come to abuse the children.
The Alabama Department of Human Resources now has custody of all the child victims, and is providing them with counseling.
Watch the brief news reports below for more details of the horrific case:
Below is the full press briefing which authorities held on Wednesday:
The crimes took place in an underground bunker that was hidden by a shed, near the home of one of the suspects:
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