describes crimes

Father Says Son Was Victim of Mohler Family - Kathy Quinn Meagan
Kelleher, Web Producer
November 12, 2009 NDEPENDENCE, Mo. - The Lafayette County Sheriff said
they are actively searching for more people who may have been sexually
abused by the Mohler family men. Burrell Edward Mohler Sr., 77, his
brother and his four adult sons have been charged with forcible sodomy
and rape involving children under the age of 12.
In their search for more victims, detectives have contacted people
like Mark Young's son, who was seven at the time of the alleged abuse.
Young confirmed to police that his son was abused by one of the Mohler
men.
Mark Young said he and his former wife, Pamela Robison, had a child
together and that woman later married Burrell Edward Mohler, Jr. Young
said Robinson and his son would disappear for days.
http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-mohler-victim-young-111309,0,1950952.story

UPDATE: Story of alleged 7th victim detailed on K.C.'s WDAF-TV
11/16/2009  J. Noedel-Publisher - Kansas City's WDAF-TV (Fox4) has
reported that in 1999, a Kansas City area man named Mark Young
divorced his wife.  His ex-wife got custody of the former-couple's
seven year-old son. The ex-wife then married Burrell "Ed" Mohler Jr.
Not long after, Mark Young met Burrell Mohler Jr.'s own ex-wife.
Burrell's ex-wife -- whose own six children the Mohlers allegedly
abused -- told Young that she had learned that "Jr. was quite fond of
(Young's) son and liked to sleep with him."  Young quickly sued for
custody of his boy, alleging the child was being abused....The
probable cause statement says that a granddaughter of Burrell Sr.
remembers being raped by her grandfather when she was six years old.
The now-grown woman and one of her sisters also are quoted in the
probable cause statement alleging that their great uncle Darrel Mohler
raped two of the girls when they were five and six years old, and then
their grandfather threatened to kill them if they were not quiet.
The Associated Press has reported, "The original complaint in the case
includes allegations of bestiality, forcing children into fake
marriages with relatives and making an 11-year-old have an abortion."
WDAF-TV, Channel 4, in Kansas City is reporting that three of the
accused child abusers were lay ministers in an Independence, Mo.
church.
A 77-year-old man and four of his middle-aged sons in western Missouri
were charged yesterday on multiple charges of forcible sodomy and rape
of children between 1988 and 1995.  According to the Kansas City Star,
a woman has told authorities of her and other children being forced to
line up on a bed on their knees and each being assaulted by the men.
http://www.ngnn.com/content/2009/nov/16/update-story-alleged-7th-vict...

Daugther Say Mohler Jr. Forced Them To Kidnap, Kill Man
http://www.kctv5.com/video/21637741/index.html

Three-page sworn probable cause statement from one Cynthia L.
Schroer.
http://www.fox4kc.com/media/acrobat/2009-11/50484435.pdf

Group Asks Church to Help Other Potential Victims Come Forward Rob
Low, edited by Jason Vaughn November 13, 2009 INDEPENDENCE, MO -
Activists representing people who have been abused by clergy members
traveled to the metro area on Friday to ask the Community of Christ
Church to help bring other potential victims of a family accused of
multiple counts of child rape.
Three members of the Mohler family were lay ministers of the
Independence-based church.
http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-story-mohler-church-snap-111309,0,7506727....

Search in family sex abuse case also is for bodies, Lafayette sheriff
says By DONALD BRADLEY The Kansas City Star 11/11/09 LEXINGTON |
Authorities are searching a rural property near Bates City, Mo.,
looking for bodies, as well as buried jars of written memories of
anguish and horror allegedly left years ago by sexually abused
children. Indications are that "an individual or individuals were
killed," Lafayette County Sheriff Kerrick Alumbaugh said Wednesday as
law enforcement personnel swarmed over a farm once owned by one of
five men arrested the day before. Investigators also expect that even
more than the five alleged victims of the decades-old "mock weddings"
will come forward. Court documents indicate the case involved rape,
sodomy and bestiality, Alumbaugh said at his Lexington office.
Investigators see a "strong possibility" of more victims, he said.
Five members of the Mohler family, a 77-year-old father and four of
his middle-aged sons, were arrested Tuesday on multiple charges of
forcible sodomy and rape after a woman related stories of her and
other children being forced to line up on a bed on their knees and
each being assaulted by the men.
http://www.kansascity.com/703/story/1563043.html

5 men charged with sex crimes against children 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. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_family_sex_crimes

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

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