so with that said....I am having a very difficult time processing the monstrous abuse of all the innocents....are they souls that were perpetrators in past lives and must suffer as they gave suffering? why would anyone agree to such barbaric actions in this life...just can't reconcile.

These souls did not agree to the suffering,
nor were they perpetrators in the past.
A question I hear often and have been asked myself by a very angry blue haired liberal coworker before is; Why does God allow suffering to occur?
The Bible chooses to focus more on the response to suffering rather than the causation. Virtually every passage on suffering in the New Testament deflects the emphasis from cause to response. Why you might ask, for two very important reasons; First, so that we can find meaning in the midst of the suffering. Second, so that we can offer real and practical help to those in need. Wisdom.
God came to earth and suffered with us in His pursuit of us. He didn’t give a lecture on why suffering exists, rather He says I’m with you and I will not leave you. His promise is that one day it will end, but until then He will be with us. One day it will all make sense. But in the meantime, we do not suffer alone.

The Bible spends time reminding us that our suffering is not meaningless, and to to bring this message to those in the midst of suffering that there is hope. God is redeeming all things for His good and our benefit. Now while the Bible has many things to say about suffering, it doesn’t directly answer our question.
So let’s dive a little deeper...
There’s a fundamental flaw in the question. The assumption is that we know better than God and that we are the center. I know most of us wouldn’t say that. But that’s how some act. The reality is our understanding of God, suffering, and love are all severely limited. We are finite beings trying to grasp at an infinite God. God sees the bigger picture and is orchestrating everything for His glory, which is to our benefit. There’s a larger story unfolding. We have to ask ourselves if we trust that God’s plan is good, even if at moments it doesn’t seem good. That’s what faith is, believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.