Child Sex Case for Mo. Family Expands With Arrest

Burrell Mohler Sr. is escorted to the courtroom at Lafayette Hall in Lexington, Mo., for his first...

Burrell Mohler Sr. is escorted to the courtroom at Lafayette Hall in Lexington, Mo., for his first appearance on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Five family members charged in a child sex abuse case in western Missouri made their first court appearance Thursday while crews resumed scouring property where some of the abuse allegedly occurred years ago.

(John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star/AP Photo)

The case against a family accused of child sex abuse expanded with the arrest of a sixth relative — a 72-year-old Florida man who had called the allegations against his kin repulsive and appalling.

Darrel Wayne Mohler has been charged with raping two children in Missouri more than 20 years ago. His arrest Friday came a day after he told The Associated Press that the alleged child abuse by his relatives was "unspeakable."

Mohler was charged in Lafayette County, Mo., with two counts of forcible rape in 1986. Officials said he was arrested and in custody at a jail Ocala, Fla., near his hometown of Silver Springs.

Five other members of the Mohler family were charged earlier in the week with several felonies, including forcible sodomy, rape with a child younger than 12 and use of a child in a sexual performance.

"I can't think of words that would put this in perspective. I find it repulsive if it's true," Mohler said Thursday of his family members' charges.

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Mohler said he was a disabled veteran suffering from various ailments, including lung disease. He did not return phone calls to his home Friday before his arrest.

The other men charged in the case were Mohler's brother, Burrell Edward Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, Mo., and Burrell's four adult 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.

The probable cause statement against Darrel W. Mohler accuses him of raping two children between the ages of 5 and 9 at an abandoned home. The statement alleges that after Mohler left the children, Burrell Mohler Sr. came to the room and warned them to "be careful because waterbeds were known to pop and they might drown in their sleep."

Darrel W. Mohler said Thursday that he never had been close to Burrell Mohler Sr.

The original complaint in the case includes allegations of bestiality, forcing children into fake marriages with relatives and making an 11-year-old have an abortion. The Associated Press is not revealing details that could identify victims of sexual abuse.