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Three men accused of sexually abusing children as young as three in an underground bunker in Alabama

According to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, detectives began an investigation in February 2025 into child abuse in the area

Paul Farrell
Sunday 20 July 2025 11:34 EDT
The suspects, Dalton Terrell, top left, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, top right and William Chase McElroy, bottom
The suspects, Dalton Terrell, top left, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, top right and William Chase McElroy, bottom (Bibb County Sheriff's Department)

Three Alabama men are in custody after a months-long investigation led police to discover an underground bunker that the trio were allegedly using to sexually abuse children.

According to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, detectives began an investigation in February 2025 into child abuse in the area. During that investigation, suspect William Chase McElroy, 21, was arrested, followed by the arrest of a second suspect, Dalton Terrell, 21, in April. Days later, the third suspect, Andres Velazquez-Trejo, was also taken into custody.

Police believe that the abuse in the bunker went on for over a year from New Year’s Day 2024 until April 2025. It’s not clear exactly where the bunker was located. The three suspects are all from the community of Brent, 50 miles south of Birmingham.

McElroy is facing four counts of first-degree rape, six counts of human trafficking, six counts of sodomy, and four counts of kidnapping. Terrell is charged with six counts of rape, 12 counts of sodomy, and five counts of human trafficking. Meanwhile, Velazquez-Trejo, 29, is accused of six counts of human trafficking.

The suspects, Dalton Terrell, top left, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, top right and William Chase McElroy, bottom
The suspects, Dalton Terrell, top left, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, top right and William Chase McElroy, bottom (Bibb County Sheriff's Department)

Terrell is charged with having sex with multiple minor victims whose ages range between three and 16 years old. A six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl were identified as victims during the course of the investigation.

One of the suspects is charged with selling children to “various clientele for sexual pleasure,” reports AL.com.

McElroy confessed to at least one of the rape charges, the website reports. During interrogation, McElroy named Terrell as an alleged co-conspirator.

Terrell is accused of paying to sexually abuse at least four children aged between three and 10.

Velazquez is accused of selling naked pictures of minor victims to people in addition to selling the children.

The suspects all live within a mile of each other in mobile homes.

“Sheriff (Jody) Wade reiterates that such abhorrent behavior will not be tolerated in Bibb County and that offenders will face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Anyone with any information in the case is asked to contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

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