Posted on Thu, Jul. 19, 2007
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, S.C. --
A mother was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday after she admitted she sold her teenage daughters as prostitutes.The woman's lawyer told the judge her family needed money for food, but prosecutors said she used the money to feed her addiction to crack cocaine.
The name of the mother is being withheld because it could identify her daughters and The Associated Press does not generally identify alleged victims of sex crimes.
The girls, who were 15 and 17 when their mother was arrested in January, are in the custody of the Department of Social Services and receiving intense counseling, authorities said.
The father of the teens faces charges because authorities said he knew what the mother was doing. Three men also are awaiting trial for buying sex from the teens, prosecutors said.
Before being sentenced, the mother apologized to her daughters, who were not in the courtroom. "I'd like to tell my girls I'm sorry and I love them," she said.
But Circuit Judge Kenneth Goode said he wasn't swayed by her remorse.
"I've known many families who've gone through huge financial straits," Goode said. "And they didn't resort to what you did."
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