Police: Group plotted to lure, sexually assault child from county fair, then crush and burn body

Four people arrested last year for allegedly plotting to kidnap a child from a Michigan county fair had a twisted plan to torture and sexually assault the victim before burning the child alive, investigators said Thursday, revealing text messages they say show group members were impatient to enact the plot.

David Bailey, 37, of Coldwater, Matthew Toole, 32, of Battle Creek, Talia Furman, 32, of Springfield and Jayme LaPoint, 19, of Athens, were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to commit criminal sexual assault. Police announced the original charges Sept. 18.

Michigan State Police launched an investigation into the quartet after receiving a tip from an unnamed inmate who told a detective he watched a video of a sexual act on Toole’s phone and Toole vowed to have sex with the girl in the video when she was 9 years old, MLive.com reported, citing a police report.

On May 10, Toole and Furman were interviewed about the allegations and police seized phones, laptops and a substance suspected to be methamphetamine. According to MLive.com, there were devices in the pair's possession that showed them committing sexual acts with two children.

Text messages obtained from an unnamed suspect in a separate child abuse case shed additional light on the group’s plans, according to police. Officials reportedly discovered a video that captured a sexual assault of an infant as well as text messages between the suspect and another contact identified as “Jayme,” according to MLive.com.

The woman, later identified as Jayme LaPoint, reportedly told authorities that she sent sexually explicit images of children to her husband, David Bailey. His phone was later seized during a search warrant execution.

A witness who told authorities she was an ex-girlfriend of Bailey and LaPoint came forward to investigators, alleging that she overheard a conversation in which the four suspects discussed their plan to abduct a child from the county fair.

Police said the group planned to use LaPoint to lure the child because she looked the youngest.

The group allegedly planned to bring the kidnapped child to a secluded cabin in Michigan or Indiana, torture the child, burn the victim alive in a barrel, crush the child’s bones and teeth, and burn the cabin down, MLive.com reported, citing the police report.

LaPoint told police that she and Bailey sexually exploited a 1-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy they were babysitting, according to MLive.com.

A jury trial is slated to begin at Branch County Circuit Court on March 19.

Toole and Furman also face multiple counts of criminal sexual misconduct and child abuse in Calhoun County, according to MLive.

http://www.fox29.com/news/national-news/police-group-plotted-to-lure-sexually-assault-child-from-county-fair-then-crush-and-burn-body