Couple pleads guilty in child sex case

LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas couple accused of selling their children into sexual servitude over a six-year period entered into a deal with prosecutors Friday.

The couple told District Judge Sally Loehrer they are innocent but admitted the state has enough evidence to convict them.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a minor under 16 and one count of child abuse or neglect causing substantial mental injury. He originally faced 37 criminal counts.

The woman pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse or neglect causing substantial mental injury. She was originally charged with six criminal counts.

Their names were not released to protect the identity of the children.

The pair could get up to 20 years in prison when the judge sentences them Sept. 7, but the woman is eligible for probation.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Teresa Lowry told the judge that a family friend gave the couple $1,500 a month for six years so he could sexually abuse three of their daughters and take pornographic pictures and videos of them.

The girls include the biological daughter of the woman, the biological daughter of both of them and an adopted niece, Lowry said. They are now 18, 15 and 15.

While investigating the allegations about the family friend, Donald Dustman, police also learned that the father had been sexually abusing his stepdaughter for four years, Lowry said.

Dustman has pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and one count of using a minor in the production of pornography.

He will be sentenced Aug. 31.

When the couple learned that someone may have tipped off authorities about the abuse by the father, Lowry said the couple convinced the girl to sign a false affidavit denying the abuse, telling her the family couldn't afford to lose Dustman's income.

Lowry said all three of the girls have attempted suicide and one has been hospitalized for months because she has been so traumatized.