A Tennessee couple are facing criminal charges for "renting out" their underage daughters as sex performers for porn videos, reports say.
According to the Johnson City Press, a federal grand jury last week charged Connie Sue McCall, 40, and her husband, Ronnie Lee McCall, 61, with selling three of their four daughters to take part in sex films. The couple, of Johnson City, were also charged with "coercion and enticement of a minor and two counts of production of child pornography."
Authorities say they believe the three girls -- now 12, 15 and 17, according to NBC affiliate WCYB-TV -- were taken to several different locations and forced to perform sexual acts with adults for the films. The McCalls, who had reportedly been users of a drug known as "bath salts," may have been selling their daughters for sex for two or more years, investigators say.
Police first grew suspicious of the McCalls in the summer of 2012, WCYB-TV reports. They were reportedly arrested for child neglect after authorities uncovered horrific, unsanitary conditions in their home.
"Just filth and extremely deplorable," Debbie Dunn, an investigator with the Johnson City Police Department, told local outlet WATE-TV of the McCalls' home.
Investigators say the McCalls' youngest daughter, believed to be 5 or 6, was found to have been suffering from a slew of problems at the time.
"She had black teeth, and holes in all the teeth, just really inexcusable," Dunn said. The little girl reportedly also had head and body lice, flea bites and ringworm.
During questioning, the McCalls' children reportedly told the authorities about the pornography they were involved in, which led to a larger investigation.
First Judicial District Attorney General Tony Clark told WATE-TV that the McCall case has shocked him.
"When you have parents allegedly making money off their kids through pornography and exploitation, even after 20 years, it's one of the worst cases I've ever seen," he said.
All four of the McCall girls are said to be in state custody now.
According to WCYB-TV, Ronnie McCall has entered a plea of not guilty in federal court; his wife is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 23. The couple reportedly face at least 30 years in prison if convicted.
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