Couple Trade 14-year-old Daughter For Car Payments

UPDATE: Dodge parents plead guilty to trading sex with daughter for van payment

EASTMAN, Ga. -- Authorities in central Georgia have arrested a couple they say traded sex with their 14-year-old daughter for payments on their minivan.

Dodge County sheriff's Capt. Tony Winbo said the parents were arrested Monday and are in jail awaiting a bond hearing. They face child molestation and pandering charges.

"We are sickened to hear about this case against this girl," Winbo said.

GA Daily News does not identify victims of sexual abuse and is not identifying the parents to protect the teen.

Winbo said 66-year-old Robert Wayne Bearden, who managed a used car dealership, was arrested on charges of child molestation and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The couple bought a minivan from a used car dealership in Eastman, about 140 miles southeast of Atlanta, in March 2008 but has not made a single payment on it, Winbo said. They made their daughter perform sex acts on the dealership's manager in lieu of making the $281 monthly payments on their minivan, he said.

"The investigation is ongoing. We expect more arrests to be made," Winbo said.

It appears the parents may have offered sex with their daughter to as many as six other adults in exchange for money and drugs, he said.

"There's a history of drug use and abuse within the family," Winbo said. "It's our understanding that the child was sold out by her parents for drugs and money."

The Dodge County Sheriff's Office was alerted to the case by the state's Division of Family and Children Services in July, Winbo said. The daughter, who has since tued 15, was placed in state custody at that time because of allegations that the father had sexually abused family members. The girl is now in foster case in another county, Winbo said.

To protect her parents, the girl initially denied that anything had happened, Winbo said. That's one reason the arrests weren't made until now. But over time, both the girl and the mother made statements to investigators that led to search warrants being issued for Bearden's home and business. Investigators found nude photos of the girl in both places, he said.

Bearden's brother, Wendell Bearden, owns the car lot his brother managed and said he was shocked to hear the allegations.

"He worked every day, went to church on Sunday," Bearden said. "I've experienced every emotion you can imagine over the last four days, from anger to sadness to pity."

Winbo didn't know whether any of the three has a lawyer.