Chicago - A 46-year-old man prostituted two teenage girls in his care in order to pay his monthly rent, police said Tuesday.
The girls, now 16 and 18, were abandoned by their mother — a drug abuser who moved to Iowa about nine months ago, said Lt. George Hillman, head of investigations for the south suburban Phoenix Police Department.
The mother left the girls in the care of Eric Carey, of Phoenix, who made one of the girls have sex with him in exchange for food, Hillman said. Both girls were juveniles at the time, he said.
Carey allegedly arranged for his landlord, Ramiro Orozco, 32, to have sex with the girls. In return, Orozco didn’t charge Carey for the rent on his apartment, which was about $800 a month, Hillman said.
Carey also let a friend, Nelson Harris Jr., 60, have sex with the girls, Hillman said.
The three men were charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and appeared at the Markham courthouse. Carey is being held without bond and Harris is in jail in lieu of $75,000 bail. Orozco was released after posting 10 percent of his $100,000 bail, officials said.
Their next court date is Aug. 19.
Hillman said the girls’ mother could face charges of child endangerment, reckless abandonment and criminal neglect. The girls are in the custody of a family member, he said.
The state Department of Children and Family Services received a tip about the alleged abuse and conducted an investigation before contacting the Phoenix Police Department, which launched the criminal case, Hillman said.
