Seven Charged in Child Abuse Ring Run From an Alabama Bunker, Officials Say

U.S.|Seven Charged in Child Abuse Ring Run From an Alabama Bunker, Officials Say

In a rural stretch of Bibb County in central Alabama, past pine forests and gravel roads, deputies uncovered what a sheriff called the most disturbing child abuse case he’s seen in his 33 years of working in law enforcement.

Inside a concrete bunker near a home, at least 10 children were harmed as part of what the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office described as a criminal operation involving sex trafficking, torture and the theft of innocence.

Most of the victims were between 3 and 10 years old; one was 15, officials said.

“I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there was a limit to it, I think we’ve reached it,” Sheriff Jody Wade said, describing the acts as beyond comprehension and the kind that fracture faith in human nature.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Sheriff Wade said seven people, including family members and parents, were charged in connection with the trafficking operation in Brent, Ala., a city of 2,600 people about an hour south of Birmingham, where children were harmed in the bunker’s underground structure.

The charges include human trafficking, rape, sodomy and sexual torture, Sheriff Wade said. Two women and five men were charged.

“I’m afraid there’s going to be more victims and many more suspects,” he said.

A photo released by the sheriff’s office shows the inside of the bunker: a stained mattress in a corner, a black metal folding chair beside it, a dirty white pedestal fan, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

The sheriff said that the victims did not live in the bunker, which was built as a storm shelter, but that it was where the adults held them and allowed others to abuse them.

The victims were restrained to a chair and bed, Sheriff Wade said, adding that those children who were old enough to fight back were given something to make them a “little bit more drowsy and a little bit more compliant.”

Sheriff Wade said that the suspects charged people to visit the bunker and abuse the children. The operation sometimes brought in $1,000 a night.

Sheriff Wade said the investigation into the ring suggests that the abuse began around 2022.

The sheriff’s office started its investigation after Alabama child welfare officials alerted it to possible abuse at a home connected to the property where the bunker was found. It was not immediately clear when the authorities began their investigation.

The children, now in the custody of the state, are receiving medical, emotional and psychological support. The sheriff said they have been meeting with counselors.

“We can’t heal from this,” Sheriff Wade said. “But you can move on as best you can.”

For some of the younger children, memories appear fragmented, with details surfacing slowly. Sheriff Wade said he hoped the trauma the older children faced will fade with time, though he acknowledged it could potentially have a lasting impact.

It remained unclear what will be done with the bunker once the investigation concludes.

Asked about it during the news conference, Sheriff Wade said he had not yet considered it.

“If I had my way about it, we’d blow it up,” he said.