Overview

• All seven defendants declined bond hearings and remain in custody pending an August preliminary hearing on trafficking and abuse charges.
• Authorities say at least ten children between the ages of 3 and 15 were held for over a year in a concealed storm shelter and subjected to drugging, restraint and sexual torture.
• The arrested suspects include four relatives of the victims and face counts ranging from rape, sodomy and human trafficking to sexual torture, bestiality and aggravated cruelty to animals.
• The investigation began after an Alabama Department of Human Resources tip in February and now involves the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office alongside federal partners including DHS.
• Officials are probing possible ties between the ring and the Sureños gang while continuing to search for additional perpetrators and victims.