MISCEPY

Family members of five men charged in a bizarre child

LEXINGTON, Mo. – Family members of five men charged in a bizarre child sex abuse case reacted with disbelief and sadness Thursday to the "unspeakable" string of alleged atrocities spanning two decades.

"It's unspeakable. I can't think of words that would put this in perspective. I find it repulsive if it's true," said Darrel Mohler, a brother of one of the five men charged.

The men — a father and his four adult sons — were dressed in orange jumpsuits and shackled at their wrists, waists and ankles on Thursday when they made their first court appearance. Associate Circuit Judge John Frerking read the charges against them, including forcible sodomy, rape with a child younger than 12 and use of a child in a sexual performance.

Burrell Edward Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, looked ill, keeping his eyes closed during much of the proceeding and coughing several times.

The other suspects are Mohler's sons: Burrell Edward Mohler Jr., 53, of Independence; Jared Leroy Mohler, 48, of Columbia; Roland Neil Mohler, 47, of Bates City; and David A. Mohler, 52, of Lamoni, Iowa.

Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested a sixth suspect late Thursday, a 55-year-old man from Kansas City. The man is suspected in the rape of a child less than 14 years old, the highway patrol said in a statement. The suspect is an "associate" of the Mohler family, the statement said.

The allegations against the Mohlers — including bestiality, forcing children into fake marriages with relatives and making an 11-year-old have an abortion — date from 1988 to 1995.

The men did not enter pleas and said little during the 20-minute hearing. They did not appear to have legal representation. The judge told them they could apply for public defenders.

The men are being held on cash bonds ranging from $30,000 to $75,000. Their next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17.

Darrel Mohler, brother of Burrell Mohler Sr., said Thursday that he hasn't seen his brother for years and the two were never close. "I'm 72, and this kind of struck me right in the gut," he said.

Merrill Clark, 63, a cousin of Burrell Mohler Sr.'s, said he attended the men's hearing hoping to get a sense "of their guilt or innocence."

"But I went away not much better than I was before," said Clark, of Lenexa, Kan. "Burrell looks like a broken old man. ... His hearing aid wasn't turned up quite enough. He never looked at me."

Clark said he did, however, make eye contact with David Mohler.

"I wanted to cry, and he appeared to be about the same way," Clark said. "But again, was he glad to see me for support, or was he embarrassed to see me? I can't really believe it. But I know it could be true."

Clark said when he heard about the charges against the five men his "chin kind of hit the floor."

"As far as I know they have been very upstanding citizens. It's just hard to believe," he said. "But anything is possible in this day and age."

Authorities resumed a search Thursday at a rural property outside Bates City, about 30 miles east of Kansas City, Mo., where members of the Mohler family once lived. They believe they may find a body or bodies and buried glass jars with notes written by children who may have documented sexual abuse.

"There has been an indication that there are body or bodies in numerous locations," Lafayette County Sheriff Kerrick Alumbaugh said Wednesday, although he would not say whose bodies they might be.

Cpl. Bill Lowe of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Thursday that about 50 law enforcement officials are involved in the case, and that several leads have come in since the arrests Tuesday.

"It's 55 acres, so it's quite a bit of land," Lowe said. "We're still searching the area and doing lead follow-ups. We're getting substantial amount of leads that we need to track down and verify."

Alumbaugh earlier pleaded for the public's help, saying investigators "believe that there are other victims out there" and that the public can provide more information.

"The case has taken 100 turns since our last news conference," Alumbaugh said Thursday. He wouldn't discuss what, if anything, investigators have found on the property, except to say that authorities may have another suspect. He wouldn't elaborate.

On Thursday afternoon, crews dug with a backhoe in front of a garage on the property. The excavation previously had taken place about 200 yards from a house in a wooded area.

Authorities said a 26-year-old woman came forward to investigators in mid-August with allegations of sexual abuse that began in the 1980s and continued until about 1995. A probable cause statement released by the Lafayette County prosecutor's office says five other siblings of the woman have accused all five men of abuse, but it's unclear if all the siblings were claiming to be victims.

"Each of the victims is being interviewed, and we're still collecting all of that," Lowe said Thursday.

Highway patrol said Thursday night it had identified "additional victims in the case."

Lowe said the woman told investigators that she and her siblings had buried glass jars around the property that were filled with messages they had written "about what was happening to them" when they were younger. The woman said she had "suppressed many of the memories of abuse perpetrated on her" and her siblings, according to the probable cause statement.

The Associated Press is not revealing details that could identify the alleged victims of sexual abuse.

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.

Booth said Wednesday that none of the Mohlers served in leadership roles in the congregations they attended "nor did they serve as volunteer youth workers, teach children or youth church school, or work with children or youth."

"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.

EPD to hunt down motorbike-riding robbers

The Philippine Star
The Eastern Police District will concentrate on catching robbers riding in tandem on motorcycles following a lull in the anti-Arroyo rallies.
EPD director Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz said its Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, who defend the EDSA Shine during anti-government protest rallies, will patrol the streets to intercept robbers.
Since he assumed command of the EPD last August, De la Cruz said there have been four robberies staged by suspects "riding in tandem," including the case of Benito Tan, who was shot dead after withdrawing payroll money from a bank.
"We have a good lead on the Tan case. However, we cannot divulge our findings as yet for fear of jeopardizing ongoing follow-up operations," he said, adding that the victims family has been cooperating in their investigation.
He said witnesses identified the suspects in the Tan case through their sketches.
De la Cruz that motorcycle-riding robbers are becoming a major concern, not only in his district but also in other police districts in Metro Manila.
"The suspects are getting violent these days as they are shooting their victims, who mostly have just emerged from a bank," he said.
According to De la Cruz, they were massively working on the "riding in tandem" cases in the EPD jurisdiction but the protest rallies against the Arroyo government put their follow-up operations on hold.
The EPD director appealed for a "ceasefire" in protest rallies so the police could concentrate on their anti-criminality duties. De la Cruz noted that in the EPD alone, the ratio of police to the population is at 1:900, which is way above the intended ratio of 1:300 in the metropolis.
"There is already a shortage in personnel assigned to specific tasks and the protest rallies made our deployment against criminality thinner. We are calling for a ceasefire in protest rallies so we could undertake our offensive against criminals," De la Cruz said. Non Alquitran

JDV says he is ready to testify vs Arroyo on NBN-ZTE scandal

Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. on Tuesday said that he is back in "fighting form" and ready to testify against President Arroyo in a Senate hearing on the controversial national broadband network deal between the Philippine government and Chinas ZTE Corp.
De Venecia previously said he needed to strengthen himself physically before he goes to the witness stand, yet now, he said that he is already feeling better.
"My health has improved significantly," de Venecia said. The former Speaker underwent a medical check-up in Singapore after he fainted from flu in his trips to Qatar and Russia.
De Venecia said he would consult with his lawyers when the Senate‘s investigation on the NBN-ZTE deal resumes. He also added that he is waiting for the Senate to invite him in the hearing so he could disclose all the anomalies he knows the Arroyo administration was involved in.
"If they invite me, I will be there," de Venecia said.
Back from his trip abroad where he attended conferences in France and Paraguay, de Venecia said that Arroyo's image in the international community has become more unfavorable.
"The negatives far outweigh the positives. Nobody abroad is saying that the administration is well-managed, so she has to work double time. If she will only cleanse her Cabinet," the former Speaker added.
He also mentioned that the surveys which have given a negative impression on Arroyos government also reflect her image in the international community.
Moreover, De Venecia challenged Arroyo to reveal, in her State of the Nation Address on July 28, the real situation of the Philippines amidst the skyrocketing prices of oil, rice, and other commodities, and the dwindling of dollar reserves in the country.
He added that Arroyo should lay down solutions, aside from the government subsidies it is handing down to the poor. He said that he will be present in the Presidents SONA.
De Venecia also criticized Arroyos negligence for finishing her 10-day visit in the United States, while typhoon Frank was wreaking havoc in the Philippines.
"She should have finished her business in the US quickly and gone straight home. She could have done both," he said.
In his trip abroad, de Venecia said he made a proposal to form an Asian response mechanism, involving countries in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, to respond to calamities like typhoons and floods.
He said that the response team is significant because the Philippines is expected to face more typhoons this year. With a report from Paul Henson, ABs-CBN News

Cop hurt as suspected rebs raid Davao Oriental police station

Policemen were caught off guard when around 40 suspected members of the New Peoples Army disguised as protesters launched an attack against a police station Thursday morning in Davao Oriental province.
In a text message to , Army spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the rebels attacked the Banay-banay Municipal Police Station around 8:45 a.m.
Brawner said the rebels were onboard three Elf trucks and a van and disguised themselves as protesters to get near the stations gate.
"Upon reaching the front gate, the CTs fired at the station and swiftly barged inside the police station and disarmed the policemen inside after which ransacked the armory," Brawner said in the text message.
He said one of the five policemen on duty during was wounded during the attack.
He added that seven high-powered weapons, five from the duty policemen and two from the armory, were carted away by the rebels who retreated using the same vehicles towards Mahayag in Banay-banay.
At 9 a.m. two platoons from the 67th Infantry Battalion immediately launched a pursuit operation against the rebels, Brawner said.
Meanwhile, the Army spokesman confirmed that three people were killed and 11 others have been wounded when a grenade exploded in front of a bakery in Compostela Valley province.
Brawner said the explosion happened at 12:50 a.m. at the corner of Arabejo and Fuentes stations in front of the Park and Go Bakeshop in Poblacion, Nabunturan.
Authorities have yet to establish the identities of the fatalities and the victims. The wounded were immediately brought to Tagum City for medical treatment.
International wires agency, Reuters, reported that two men and a woman on a motorcycle threw a grenade into the bakery.
The Army spokesperson said the attack was believed to have been done by the NPA due to the failure in their extortion activity.

The doctors are sick - Danton Remoto

REMOTE CONTROL By DANTON REMOTO

Last New Years Eve, Jan-Jan , a 39-year-old gay man in Cebu City, was going home after a drunken revelry. On the streets he met a male sex worker, whom he brought home. The next day, when he woke up, there was pain inside his rectum, and the sex worker was gone.
He asked his sister to bring him to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, a government-run hospital. The doctor examined him, sneered, and told him he needed surgery for a perfume canister embedded in his rectum. He was made to quickly sign papers he was not given the chance to read. He was sedated before the operation, and he did not know that while the perfume canister was being extracted from him, the doctors and the nurses and a whole menagerie of medical practitioners were recording everything with their cell phone cameras.
Anti-gay jokes – which the educated set in the operating room thought were witty – were exchanged. It was a scene enough for Hippocrates to turn in his ancient grave.
Some malignant soul uploaded the two-minute-plus long vide on YouTube, and thus began the public humiliation of Jan Jan – not once, not twice, but many times over, as the images were downloaded, passed from cell phone to cell phone, the images replicated to the nth degree via technology.
Said Jan Jan: "I trusted them. And yet they ridiculed me. . . Was that something that professionals should do? Now I cant even walk the streets without being laughed at by my neighbors. I want my ordeal to end. And I hope it doesnt happen to anyone else."
Confidentiality
The arrow of his words hit the bulls eye of the issue: confidentiality and trust. What the bright doctors and nurses at the Cebu hospital did was a violation of the patient-doctor confidentiality that is part of the Code of Ethics of a medical practitioner.
What rubs salt on the patients injury was the fact that the doctors and nurses were shown laughing – with the glee reserved only for the insanely happy – while the patient was sedated, helpless, and tied to the bedposts like a pig.
Why was the victim not made to read the papers he signed? Why was there a horde of kibitzers inside the operating room? Was a medical operation really going on, or were they watching a specimen under the merciless lens of a microscope, or an animal in a zoo?
Counseling
There seems to be a pattern of deception here. A patients written permission is needed before any recording can be made of an operation. And this recording could be done only if the case will advance the cause of medicine or science.
The officials of the hospital just released a statement saying that they will slap administrative charges against three doctors and a nurse in connection with the case, for allowing a videotape to take place.
We in Ang Ladlad – the national organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Filipinos – are offering psychological counseling and legal services to Jan Jan. We will also make sure the case will not die, will prosper in the courts, and will reach the Professional Regulations Commission and the Civil Service Commission.
There was a time when doctors were called "The Men Who Play God." That is even the title of a collection of stories by the Filipino doctor and writer, Arturo Rotor. But in this case, the doctors were not gods or goddesses. And the one who was sick was not the patient.
The doctors were the ones who were sick.
Comments can be sent to dantn_ph@yahoo.com or www.angladlad.org