Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: tbart on July 26, 2013, 06:40 pm
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doesn't appear to be SR related, but intereting pictures of their grow operation (outdoor) at the story's link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378971/Two-California-pot-farmers-kidnapped-girl-15-April-kept-sex-slave-4-foot-metal-box.html
Two California pot farmers 'kidnapped girl, 15, in April and kept her as a sex slave in 4-foot metal box'
• The 15-year-old went missing in April from the Los Angeles area
• Police found her at a Sacramento motel after she called police and they traced her call
• The girl was held captive by Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 25, who ran a marijuana growing operation in Lake County
• When she wasn't farming marijuana, she was locked in a 4-foot by 2-foot metal toolbox
By Ashley Collman
PUBLISHED: 08:46 EST, 26 July 2013 | UPDATED: 12:00 EST, 26 July 2013
A teen who went missing in Los Angeles in April was discovered a month later in Northern California, having been kidnapped and used as a sex slave on a marijuana farm.
The Los Angeles Police Department decribed the 15-year-old girl as a runaway. They believe she was kidnapped by Ryan Balletto, 30, and his associate Patrick Pearmain, 25, and taken to their growing operation in Lake County, California.
According to a criminal complaint, when the girl wasn't being used to harvest marijuana she was locked for days at a time in a 4-foot by 2-foot metal toolbox.
Captors: 30-year-old Ryan Balletto, left, and 25-year-old Patrick Pearmain, right, were arrested in May after the girl they kidnapped called police, and authorities traced the call to a motel in Sacramento
Prisoner: Balletto and Pearmain kept the girl locked in a 4-foot by 2-foot metal toolbox, sometimes for days at a time
Trooper: According to the criminal complaint, Balletto called the girl a 'trooper' for not screaming in the box
The toolbox had holes punched in it so she could breathe, and a blanket. Another hose was drilled into the box so they could a run a hose through it to clean her without letting her out.
Apparently Balletto called her a 'trooper' for not screaming in the box.
She was also told 'not to (expletive) up' because the men had a 'whole lot of money on the (marijuana) grow.'
In addition to the toolbox, police found a homemade wooden rack used for sexual bondage and a noose next to the toolbox.
LAPD contacted the Lake County Police Department, saying Balletto may have been responsible for the girl's kidnapping. Officers showed up at Balletto's house on April 29, asking about the teen.
This tipped the girl off, who called police the next day saying she was OK.
Authorities were able to trace that call to the girls location at a west Sacramento motel, where the two men were arrested and the teen transferred to protective custody.
Federal investigators believe there may be more victims.
Police later raided Balletto's grow operation and home where they found 1,400 pot plants, $4,000 in cash, and 'the largest and most sophisticated bulk of weapons seized in recent (department) history.'
Thy found a cache of 22 firearms, including high-powered military-grade sniper and assault rifles, automatic assault rifles and pistols. Many of the firearms were already loaded.
Along with the firearms they found military-grade body armor and scopes, high-capacity magazines and ammunition.
Horde: Police found a huge arsenal of weapons during a raid on the growing operation and Balletto's home
Balletto's girlfriend, 27-year-old Christa McConnell, was also arrested after the raid on their home. Five children were found at the home and placed in the custody of Lake County Child Protective Services. McConnell faces child-endangerment and weapons charges.
Last year, Lake County had 87 cases of residents cultivating marijuana. According to public information releases posted on the Sheriff's Office website, police have already eradicated nearly 60,000 pot plants just this month.
'Some in our community believe that marijuana grow operations are run by compassionate caregivers interested only in supplying medicine to the sick, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said in a written statement.
'Unfortunately, this case illustrates what we in law enforcement see - marijuana grow operations that include heavily armed, violent individuals, motivated by profit, carrying out abuse of vulnerable victims.'
• Deputies: Lake County men held teen girl as sex, drug slave
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wtf?? people are twisted.
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Holy fuck...what the fuck. Fuck.
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Polly wants a cracker? I think I should get off her first. ;D
Yo for real though, WHAT THE FUCK
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Damn it. 2 more innocent lives ruined because of that damn marjuina. I'm sure both of those boys were good boys until that damn weed addiction got hold of them. I believe the government should start lining up the damn "dope dealers" and doing away with them execution style. Send the family the bill for the bullet.