Taking flight

Tuesday evening we got a news release from the Lafayette County Sheriff.  Five men, a father and his four sons had been arrested for "sex crimes."  We learned some of the horrifying details from the charging documents Wednesday.  Among the allegations:

• a victim was forced to have intercourse with her grandfather
• that she was forcibly sodomized
• a dog was part of at least one of the abuse incidents
• the victim and her siblings were forced to participate in mock weddings after which they were abused by their uncles

The victims are now adults.  Some of the accused men were "lay preachers" at a church in Independence, MO.  A church spokeswoman says they are no longer part of "the priesthood."

Police spent the day digging for clues. The victim says she and her siblings buried glass jars with notes detailing the abuse at the suggestion of their abusers.

The cops also think there may be a body or bodies buried on the farm formerly owned by the patriarch, Burrell Mohler.

This is the type of story that is fraught with pitfalls for any news department and we've already stumbled a few times. We have to be so careful!

There is a court hearing scheduled for Thursday.  I'm sure we'll be covering this story for many years.