Father Charged With Human Trafficking After Juvenile Daughter Allegedly Gives Birth To Buyer's Child

A Kentucky man has been arrested for allegedly selling his underage daughter to a 20-year-old man. Police said the juvenile girl lived with the man and gave birth to his child.

State troopers and social services began investigating the case in November. The 34-year-old father sold his daughter to the man in August 2020. The girl was living with the man after that and she eventually became pregnant with his child, Kentucky State Police said in a news release Wednesday, ABC News reported.

Investigators believe the girl, whose age was not disclosed, gave birth to the child in March. While the father was charged with human trafficking, the 20-year-old man who bought the girl was charged with third-degree rape.

Both the girl and her child are now in foster care, reported NBC-affiliated WFIE-TV.

Jail records showed the suspects were booked into the Ohio County Detention Center. They are being held on a bond of $50,000 each.

"It's really disheartening because we have for many years put the monster's face on technology," Kentucky State Police Trooper Corey King said. "Technology seems to be where all of these people tend to find our children, but in this situation, this was parents."

It is rare for troopers to come across such a case where the parent is the culprit, King said.

"Parents sold their child," King said. "That in itself is new for us here, but it's scary overall because now do some of these monsters have a face of a parent? That's really scary to me as a parent."

The incident is the latest addition to the alarming number of human trafficking cases in the state.

"Kentucky ranks 26th in population, but we're ninth in human trafficking," the officer said. "That is telling, that in 'Small Town USA' we have these problems here and in somewhat of a large scale."

Apart from children, adults also become victims of such heinous crimes. King urged the public to help prevent such instances by informing authorities if they notice anything suspicious.

"Anything that simply looks out of place, regardless of what crime it could follow under, if there is something not right – your eyes could save lives," King said.