A Florida mom sold her 6-year-old daughter’s body for sex so she could get money and score drugs, according to authorities.
Dalina Nicholas pimped out the young girl to at least two men, but authorities fear the child may have been sexually abused by others, the Florida Times-Union reported Monday.
"I can't think of an adjective that's bad enough to describe [the allegations]," Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Bruce Thomason told the newspaper.
Authorities became aware of the child abuse after a homeless man alerted them in January, the Florida Times-Union reported.
He claimed to witness the child being sexually abused in a Jacksonville Beach home where he'd gone to do drugs, police said.
Authorities took custody of the child, and investigators said she described to them the abuse she suffered. The girl, along with a younger sibling, is now living with her grandparents.
"This child is now in a safe environment with relatives," John Harrell, spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, told WOKV News. "And additionally, our partners at the Children's Home Society are providing services to help this child, which include therapy and counseling."
Her 35-year-old mother fled the state, police said. She was later arrested last week in Georgia.
Nicholas' own mother, who was not identified, defended her daughter as an addict who simply fell victim to "drug dealers."
“ kept returning and basically they took over her home,” she said, according to the Times-Union. “She was as much a victim as her daughter was.”
Nicholas is being held on a charge of child neglect.
Two men were previously arrested in the case: Quinn M. Brooks, 56, and John F. Hagans, 47. They were charged with sexual battery and are being held without bond.
Hagans told authorities he lived with Nicholas and her daughter in the past, but denied sexually abusing the girl. He said drugs were often done in the house, and people came and went frequently.
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