A group of four Michigan residents consisting of two men and two women have been arrested and accused of a twisted plot to kidnap a small boy from a county fair and then rape him, beat him, and burn him alive near a secluded cabin.

The Michigan State Police uncovered the horrendous plot when a separate investigation revealed a series of text messages between the four suspects that detailed the plans for the grisly abuse and murder scheme, according to Fox 29.

The four suspects live in various Michigan cities. David Bailey, 37, is from Coldwater, Matthew Toole, 32, lives in Battle Creek, Talia Furman, 32, hails from Springfield, and Jayme LaPoint, 19, is from Athens, and all were all linked to the plot by the text messages discovered by the police.

The investigation was launched on a tip from a prison inmate who told detectives he saw a video on Toole’s phone of a recording of the rape of a nine-year-old girl. Police seized Toole’s phone but while reviewing the data also discovered the plot to kidnap a boy and murder him.

According to police, the four planned to lure a small boy from a county fair and then to transport him to a secluded cabin where they intended to sexually abuse him. They then planned to burn the child alive in a barrel and crush his teeth and bones to dust afterward as a forensic measure. They also discussed burning down the cabin after the murder.

During the investigation, police also discovered that some of the suspects had sexually abused other children.

Suspect Jayme LaPoint was charged with sexually exploiting a 1-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy she was supposed to be babysitting. Toole and Furman also had videos on their phones allegedly showing them sexually abusing children.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.