November 19, 2009 10:25 AM

Mohler Family Sex Crimes Case: Wife Found Incest Porno, Say Cops

By
Neil Katz
Topics
Daily Blotter
(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Photo: Burrel E. Mohler, Sr., in court Nov. 17, 2009 in Lexington, Mo.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (CBS/AP) Incest pornography.

That's what authorities investigating six members of the Mohler family for alleged sex crimes against related children in rural Missouri say they found in one suspect's home, and it was the suspect's wife who led them to it.

The search warrant issued last week after the arrest of Burrell E. Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, said investigators seized several items from Mohler's home, including four computer towers, several pornographic magazines and books, several DVDs, and cameras.

While incest is illegal, pornography depicting simulated incest is often not.

Mohler, his four adult sons and his brother, Darrel W. Mohler, 72, of Silver Springs, Fla., have been charged with raping and molesting several young relatives over roughly a decade. Accusations include impregnating at least two young girls and forcing one to have an abortion when she was 11.

Col. Ben Kenney of the Jackson County, Mo., sheriff's department said Wednesday that several booklets found at the home were about incest.

"The thing that was unusual was the title and the references," he said. "They were very explicit. ... It was all on sex with family members."

He said the computers that were seized were sent to an FBI lab in Kansas City for review.

The Jackson County warrant was issued Nov. 11, the day after Mohler and his sons were arrested.

Sandra Mohler, the wife of Burrell Mohler Sr., told detectives she found some of the material "that made reference to incest activity among family members" in a false ceiling of the basement, the warrant said. She locked the material in a file cabinet about two months ago, according to the warrant.

She said when she discovered the pornographic material she made an arrangement with her husband for him "to move to the basement area of the residence," according to the document.

No one answered the door Wednesday at the address identified in the search warrant. Calls to the home also were not answered.

Mohler Sr. and his sons - Burrell 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 - face several felony counts of rape and use of a child in a sexual performance.

Most of the men did not have lawyers Wednesday, according to the Lafayette County clerk's office. Jared Mohler's lawyer, Tim Larimore, did not return calls seeking comment.

Some family members, however, have questioned the plausibility of the charges against the men.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
November 19, 2009 - Court Doc: Mohler Family Forced Children to Help Kill a Man and Bury Him
November 18, 2009 - Mohler Family: Relative Questions Tales of Rape, Sodomy, and Murder
November 12, 2009 - Cops: Child-Raping Missouri Family May Have Bodies in Yard



Add a Comment
by tonlo November 22, 2009 1:11 PM EST
on Nov 17th the men in this case were charged with 15 additional sex charges as well as a claim that they helped murder & bury a man in 1988. One woman has come forward saying she was a victim of a rape & pregnancy. She said the men buried the baby under the floor of the basement. The story is on MSNBC. I guess we will have to wait & see.
Reply to this comment
by askagain November 19, 2009 1:50 PM EST
So far, any evidence we have been told about seems circumstantial. Having literature in one's home is a far cry from the crimes this man is accused of. Forgotten erotic literature can probably be found in many homes. Many of us remember getting hold of erotic literature as teenagers. This does not mean any of us actually did the things we read about. Of greater significance would be the bottles with notes written by girls who were victims or bodies the police expected to find in the yard and basement of one of the homes. These guys may be walking soon if the police can't find any evidence.
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