An 11-count, federal indictment has been unsealed, charging five men with making a teen-age runaway who suffered from mental deficiencies into their sex slave.
The indictment was returned under seal by a grand jury in Kansas City on Wednesday, accusing 43-year-old Edward Bagley, Sr. of Lebanon, 62-year-old Michael Stokes of Lebanon, 50-year-old Dennis Henry of Wheatland, 44-year-old James Noel of Springfield and 31-year-old Bradley Cook of St. Louis of trafficking an unnamed victim in the sex trade.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office in Kansas City, Bagley coerced the girl, 16 at the time, to become a sex slave. He also sexually tortured her, according to the office. Between December of 2002 and February of 2009, Bagley allegedly advertised online that the girl could be sexually tortured during live online sessions or in person. The indictment states that Stokes, Henry, Noel and Cook paid Bagley to sexually abuse and torture the girl. The indictment also accuses Bagley of forcing the girl to work as a stripper while keeping her proceeds.
The investigation broke after the woman, 23 at the time, received emergency medical treatment and was hospitalized after Bagley allegedly suffocated and electrocuted her during a torture session, triggering a heart attack in February of last year.
Federal prosecutors charge that Bagley enticed the girl who had run away from her foster home to come live with him in his trailer by promising to help her become a model and dancer. Bagley allegedly provided the girl marijuana and ecstasy, plus a steady diet of pornography. He then began to sexually abuse her.
Bagley began sexually torturing her when she turned 18, according to the indictment. He convinced the girl that a “sex slave contract” she signed legally bound her to him for life. The indictment says he threatened her life if she attempted to leave or cry for help. Prosecutors charge that Bagley abused, tortured and mutilated her over a five-year period.
In addition to the criminal conspiracy, each of the five defendants is charged with one count each of commercial sex trafficking and once court each of using the Internet to facilitate the unlawful activity. The five have been arrested. All have had their first appearance in court
