Men Cage Girl as Pot Farm Sex Slave: Cops

NBC Bay Area ^ | Saturday, Jul 27, 2013 | Ron Rokhy and Jasan Kandel

[nickcarraway]

The charges include human trafficking, false imprisonment and molesting a child

Police connected a third suspect to two men accused of forcing a 15-year-old runaway from Los Angeles to work in a Northern California pot farm and using her as a sex slave, officials said on Saturday.

Eric Edgar, 45, was arrested in LA in May on a sex assault charge after the girl identified him as one of her assailants, said Cmdr. Andy Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Edgar is connected to a case involving two suspected pot growers who allegedly sexually abused a girl who was trimming marijuana buds for them, police said. They allegedly locked her in a metal toolbox near the Northern California city of Clearlake, in Lake County, more than 100 miles north of San Francisco, authorities said.

Edgar was briefly held in an LA County Jail before being released to Lake County authorities. His status was not known on Saturday.

Lake County Sheriff's officials were not available for comment.

Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 25, were arrested two months ago. They face charges of cultivating pot for sale and sexual assault, among others, according to a press release issued by the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

The case broke after deputies visited Balletto's home asking about the missing girl on April 29, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.

The next day, the girl called authorities to say she was OK and in Sacramento.

Patrick Pearmain, 24, and Ryan Balletto, 30, both allegedly had sex with a girl who was cutting marijuana buds for them at Balletto's Lake County property.LAPD investigators traced the call and police located her at a West Sacramento hotel, where authorities arrested Pearmain, court documents said.

At the pot farm, authorities seized over 1,300 marijuana plants and what police said was the largest weapons cache in recent Lake County Sheriff’s history.

Authorities also uncovered sex toys and the 4-foot by 2-foot metal box authorities said the girl was imprisoned in.

[GeronL]

and I said or implied that, how?

[LibLieSlayer]

evil is as evil does. We need a U-Turn with 5000 horse power and a 5:11 gear!

[Army Air Corps]

“They were quiet boys who kept to themselves...”

[jpsb]

Of course you realize that drugs were legal (no federal prohibition) until the Harrison Tax Act of 1914.

[MileHi]

Do you buy your weed from only honest, reputable dealers?

Don't use it.

[CodeToad]

Get a hemp rope. Then beat them with it until their skin falls off.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I wasn't attempting to justify the supply chain crimes -- and most certainly not the sex crimes that were the subject of this article.

Allow me to rephrase your argument:

1. Pot is illegal.

2. If you buy illegal pot, you're supporting criminals.

3. If you grow your own pot, you're a criminal.

4. Crime is bad, criminals are bad.

5. Therefore, buying or selling pot must remain a crime.

6. Go to 1.

Do you see how circular that argument is?

My earlier posting was just stating a simple tautology: so long as pot is illegal, you can only buy it from criminals. There is plenty of room for debate about whether or not pot should be legalized. However, the fact that pot is now illegal is not a legitimate reason for making pot illegal.

[HiTech RedNeck]

1 Sonpower will do...

[sarasmom]

I didn’t agree to allow your ‘rephrasing” of my opinion.

Stop it.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Please show me where I was wrong.

[sarasmom]

“Please show me where I was wrong.”

LOL!

That's it?
That is your responce?

ROTFLMAO!
They are paying you way to much to troll for them, even if you are an unpaid volunteer.

[LibLieSlayer]

Yes, all things would be rectified!

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

So, you can't answer my question -- except by way of a groundless ad hominem attack?

You would benefit from a course in logic.

http://logic.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/