Cops thwart heinous plot to kidnap, rape, torture and burn a child alive
Thanks to a tip from an inmate at Michigan’s Allegan County Jail, a tip that police were able to verify with telephone text messages and witness interviews, Michigan State Police found out about a plot on the part of four individuals to kidnap a child from a local county fair. Following the successful kidnapping of any random little boy or girl, the plan the four hatched up was to then rape and torture their victim – and then burn the child alive.
The Michigan State Police investigation revealed an alleged deadly plan to take a child from a county fair in either Eaton, Jackson, Branch or Hillsdale counties, or from a parade, during the summer of 2018. No one was kidnapped, but instead, police captured four people and charged them with crimes related to the alleged plot. ~ per MLIVE in Michigan
The four co-conspirators were identified as David Bailey, 37, of Coldwater and formerly of Kalamazoo; Matthew Toole, 32, of Battle Creek; Talia Furman, 32, of Springfield; and Jayme LaPoint, 19, of Athens. On September 18, 2018, the Michigan Attorney General’s office announced that all four were looking at charges of planning to kidnap, torture, and sexually assault and kill a child.
WTVB reported that Toole has already entered a plea of no contest to two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct. That Allegan County Jail inmate who was cooperating with police stated that he had met up with Toole and Toole’s girlfriend, Furman, and that Toole had shown the inmate a cell phone video depicting a sexual act; and that Toole stated his intention was to have sex with the little girl in the video when she turned none-years-old.
On May 10, according to MLIVE, police went to Toole and Furman’s home to interview them separately about the inmate’s allegations. Cops seized cell phones and computers from the home and also discovered some drugs they suspected to be methamphetamine. The police report of the event went on to state that, “An analysis of the devices showed images of Toole and Furman committing sexual acts with at least two different children.”
Toole will be in court on March 11. At that time, he could be sentenced to at least 50 years in prison. Furman is charged with the same crimes as her boyfriend and could receive the same sentence. Bail bonds for all four of the co-conspirators have been set at $5 million each.
The New York Post shared portions of a police report stating that one of the witnesses told police that she had overheard the four, who were all sitting around a table, planning on kidnapping a little girl from a county fair. The report also stated that after the four kidnapped the child, they would bring her to a cabin and torture her.
“Because Jayme LaPoint could pass for a teenager (she was 18 at the time) she would be the decoy,” the police report stated. “Jayme would ask a child to use their phone and when they gave it to her she would run away with it.”
“After the torture their hope is she would still be alive,” authorities said. “They would then start a fire and put the child in a burning barrel and put the child in it alive to be burned.”
The report went on to say that the four also wanted to crush up the little girl’s teeth and bones and then set the cabin on fire.
If convicted on any of their charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to commit criminal sexual conduct, each defendant could be sentenced to a maximum of life behind bars.
~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
