MO - Six Mohler family members for child sex crimes, Bates City 2009 #1

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I heard on the local news this morning that they had cadaver dogs on the property and were looking for bodies, also that the abuse had spanned decades.
 
silverflower said:
I was a victim of rape while I was still a minor, and I have very little compassion for those who commit a sexual assault of any kind. I went through years of counseling before I could function fully again and have since spent many volunteer hours helping other victims of rape. That being said, none of you have the full story, no one besides the people making the accusations does yet. Talk about mob mentality. I have known this family for all of my 25 years of life. I grew up with both of David's daughters and also know Roland's daughters. The girl who wrote the review on the book on anorexia is David's daughter and if I remember correctly that book was a required assignment at school. No, none of the men involved were sex offenders. Ed (Burrel Jr) has had multiple marriages and the divorces were very messy. There are people in their family who would say that a vindictive ex wife may have been involved in the accusations. Graceland is a conservative University, and a good school. David, Michelle and their children were always very involved with the community and have all spent many volunteer hours making Lamoni a good place to live. It is unfair to call them vile beings before finding out more information. I guess I should thank you all for reminding me that you're no longer innocent until proven guilty, you're guilty until proven innocent and even if you are proven 100% to be innocent you're still treated as guilty by society when it comes to sex crimes.
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Welcome, silverflower. All my love to you as a survivor. :blowkiss:

I agree with you that on this and other message boards, accused people are rarely afforded the small benefit of being assumed innocent until proven guilty. I too find such a mentality very harmful and dangerous, but I can't pretend that I don't understand it. Folks en masse get hopped up at the mere mention of child sexual abuse and that can be blinding.

I appreciate your perspective and will withhold my limited judgment and simply pray for all who are touched by these allegations.
 
silverflower said:
I was a victim of rape while I was still a minor, and I have very little compassion for those who commit a sexual assault of any kind. I went through years of counseling before I could function fully again and have since spent many volunteer hours helping other victims of rape. That being said, none of you have the full story, no one besides the people making the accusations does yet. Talk about mob mentality. I have known this family for all of my 25 years of life. I grew up with both of David's daughters and also know Roland's daughters. The girl who wrote the review on the book on anorexia is David's daughter and if I remember correctly that book was a required assignment at school. No, none of the men involved were sex offenders. Ed (Burrel Jr) has had multiple marriages and the divorces were very messy. There are people in their family who would say that a vindictive ex wife may have been involved in the accusations. Graceland is a conservative University, and a good school. David, Michelle and their children were always very involved with the community and have all spent many volunteer hours making Lamoni a good place to live. It is unfair to call them vile beings before finding out more information. I guess I should thank you all for reminding me that you're no longer innocent until proven guilty, you're guilty until proven innocent and even if you are proven 100% to be innocent you're still treated as guilty by society when it comes to sex crimes.
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Welcome to WS Silver, and we appreciate your perspective. There is a rush to judgement and a certain mob mentality when it comes to a case like this that potentially involves the abuse of a minor and there are allegations that the abuse was transmitted via image.

I am grateful that your experience with this family has been a good one-we will watch this story unfold of course, but I have to say that on the surface there appears to be a great deal of concern in the LE community regarding this family. It is hard for me to believe that this concern is solely based on the allegations of someone who might have an axe to grind. JMO.
 
silverflower said:
I was a victim of rape while I was still a minor, and I have very little compassion for those who commit a sexual assault of any kind. I went through years of counseling before I could function fully again and have since spent many volunteer hours helping other victims of rape. That being said, none of you have the full story, no one besides the people making the accusations does yet. Talk about mob mentality. I have known this family for all of my 25 years of life. I grew up with both of David's daughters and also know Roland's daughters. The girl who wrote the review on the book on anorexia is David's daughter and if I remember correctly that book was a required assignment at school. No, none of the men involved were sex offenders. Ed (Burrel Jr) has had multiple marriages and the divorces were very messy. There are people in their family who would say that a vindictive ex wife may have been involved in the accusations. Graceland is a conservative University, and a good school. David, Michelle and their children were always very involved with the community and have all spent many volunteer hours making Lamoni a good place to live. It is unfair to call them vile beings before finding out more information. I guess I should thank you all for reminding me that you're no longer innocent until proven guilty, you're guilty until proven innocent and even if you are proven 100% to be innocent you're still treated as guilty by society when it comes to sex crimes.
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I respect your reservations, but I don't share them. Here on a message board I don't have to consider anyone innocent until proven guilty. I certainly won't be extending that benefit in this case.

I am however concerned for you when and if these men's crimes come to light. It's never easy to learn you've been fooled and defended the inexcusable. If that is what happened, you will have my deepest sympathy.
 
silverflower said:
I was a victim of rape while I was still a minor, and I have very little compassion for those who commit a sexual assault of any kind. I went through years of counseling before I could function fully again and have since spent many volunteer hours helping other victims of rape. That being said, none of you have the full story, no one besides the people making the accusations does yet. Talk about mob mentality. I have known this family for all of my 25 years of life. I grew up with both of David's daughters and also know Roland's daughters. The girl who wrote the review on the book on anorexia is David's daughter and if I remember correctly that book was a required assignment at school. No, none of the men involved were sex offenders. Ed (Burrel Jr) has had multiple marriages and the divorces were very messy. There are people in their family who would say that a vindictive ex wife may have been involved in the accusations. Graceland is a conservative University, and a good school. David, Michelle and their children were always very involved with the community and have all spent many volunteer hours making Lamoni a good place to live. It is unfair to call them vile beings before finding out more information. I guess I should thank you all for reminding me that you're no longer innocent until proven guilty, you're guilty until proven innocent and even if you are proven 100% to be innocent you're still treated as guilty by society when it comes to sex crimes.
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Welcome to WS, silverflower.

I am so sorry you were raped. That is inexcusable.

Because you know the family, the WS rule is that you must contact WS's owner, Tricia, before you post. Her email is tgrif@xmission.com. She needs to confirm your identity. Otherwise we would have people coming out of the woodwork who claim to know the family and know the facts of the case.

Regards,

Hoppy
mod
 
Father, 4 Sons Arrested On 14 Sex Charges

POSTED: 6:19 am CST November 11, 2009
UPDATED: 9:04 am CST November 11, 2009

LEXINGTON, Mo. -- Police across Missouri coordinated arrests of five family members who are being charged with 14 counts of various child sex offenses.

A father and his four adult sons were arrested in the culmination of months of investigation, according to investigators. The investigation started after a victim came forward over the summer about decades-old crimes involving the men.

The investigation and arrests involved nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies and many of the agencies worked into the night to book the men into jail.

The men arrested are father Burrell Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, Mo.; Burrell Mohler Jr., 53, of Independence; Roland Mohler, 47, of Bates City, Mo.; Jared Mohler, 48, of Columbia, Mo.; and David Mohler, 52, of Lamoni, Iowa

http://www.kctv5.com/news/21581629/detail.html
 
Silverflower--Welcome, and please accept my sympathy for the pain you have endured. I respect your position and know that you must be hurting for your friends. However, I agree with Linda7NJ. On Websleuths, we do not have to consider those charged as being innocent until proven guilty. We are a forum who supports the victim. The sad fact is that many many of us on this forum are also survivors and/or relatives and friends of survivors. You will note that we only share info which is readily available on the internet and attempt to debate the issues in a respectful manner.

I am the mother of eight children who were raped. Do I rush to judgement? Yes, I'm afraid I do. I am fully aware that mistakes can be made. But, I also know what sort of massive undertaking LE goes through before they arrest five well-known men in a respected family. This case sounds as if it goes back decades. However, to the victim, time doesn't heal. The pain never goes away. You must know this. The offenders must be brought to justice so that there can be closure and a new beginning.

I know all too well how traumatic it is to go through an investigation and preparation for a trial. I do not believe (mo) that anyone does this sort of thing out of vindictiveness or cruelty. The pain and misery is just too great. I really feel as if this victim/victims must have had some credible information for this investigation to get off the ground and to be so far-reaching.

One thing that I think needs to be said is that we see sex offenders every single day who are nice people. They go to church, they volunteer, they work with children, they pay their taxes, they keep their yards nice, they speak kindly to the neighbors. How do you think they hide their crimes? The family of the man who raped my children includes a doctor and a school librarian. They are active Rotary members and volunteer overseas to help children. When their son was arrested, their extended family and a huge group of friends gathered around and supported them. No one could believe this could happen in a "nice" town with such "good" people. I know it happened because these are my children. The man was convicted of 12 counts of rape and sodomy of special needs children aged 7-12. He just completed ten years.

So, once again, please accept my heartfelt concern for your past abuse and the current worry about your friends. My suggestion is to keep your eyes and mind open. Help support the family members. Family members of sex offenders suffer greatly. If these men are found guilty, the family will desperately need your support.
 
I'm at the office getting alerts up the wazoo on this thread - be SURE that nobody creates links to uninvolved family members, OK? Please, go back and check your work.
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:waitasec:

I think what I posted was OK-it is an ancestry site that confirmed the relationship between the suspects prior to the media confirming the relationship...let me know!!!!
 
The law made plenty of mistakes during the 1980s "Satanic ritual abuse" cases, which ruined the lives of many an innocent person.
 
wfgodot said:
The law made plenty of mistakes during the 1980s "Satanic ritual abuse" cases, which ruined the lives of many an innocent person.
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fair enough, but 11 agencies???? That is a big showing for a case without legs under it....
 
I don't get the impression that this is going to follow the MO of a "Satanic ritual abuse" case. I have a feeling (JMO) that we're talking about a dysfunctional family with sexual abuse which occurred years ago. Don't offenders realize that victims grow up and often develop the inner strength to reveal the family secret? Don't other family members realize that they, too, are culpable if they don't disclose?

Let's wait and see what comes out at the presser.

Please let me know if I need to make any further changes in my posts, . Thanks.
 
Missizzy said:
I don't get the impression that this is going to follow the MO of a "Satanic ritual abuse" case. I have a feeling (JMO) that we're talking about a dysfunctional family with sexual abuse which occurred years ago. Don't offenders realize that victims grow up and often develop the inner strength to reveal the family secret? Don't other family members realize that they, too, are culpable if they don't disclose?

Let's wait and see what comes out at the presser.

Please let me know if I need to make any further changes in my posts, . Thanks.
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The '80s cases were sex abuse cases with Satan thrown in for effect. "Repressed memories" were a feature, and repressed memories are hard to separate from what did take place when related in accounts years later.

Not saying at all that these folks haven't been caught dead to rights. And if they are, good work LE. Maximum penalty.
 
wfgodot said:
The law made plenty of mistakes during the 1980s "Satanic ritual abuse" cases, which ruined the lives of many an innocent person.
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This was one of my second thoughts also - after I got over my shock and anger.

I am surprised that this is a whole family. I think that is pretty rare because I would assume (you know what that means) that if the allegations are true, it would mean one or more of these "boys" were probably also abused. If there was abuse while the kids were growing up, I would think (and I can be wrong) that at least one of these kids would have fought back against the abuser(s). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I find it hard to believe ALL of the children are involved in perpetuating these crimes.

However, I am perplexed by the cadaver dogs. I also want to know if LE has graphics of these men (if you can call them that) engaging in these crimes.

Wow - is pretty much all I can think at the moment. I want more info.

Salem
 
Do you have a link, Texas Mist?

On another note - 5 offenders? Wouldn't you think at least one of them had continued to offend over these past 10-14 years? Is it reasonable to think that all 5 abused and then stopped? Given what we know about sex offenders?

Where are the other victims? If there are other victims, will they be encouraged and supported to speak out now that this is coming to light? I sincerely hope if there are other victims, that LE hears from them.

Salem
 
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