NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Two more people have been indicted as a result of a federal investigation into an alleged teenage prostitution business in Nashville.
The joint investigation by the Metro Nashville Police Department and the FBI led to the arrest in August of 45-year-old Teresa West and her two adult children, Casey West and Diana West.
According to court documents, agents found a 16-year-old girl at a Murfreesboro hotel who said she had been working for Teresa West as a prostitute. She said she had been with more than 20 clients during the summer.
The documents show there were at least four underage girls who allegedly worked as prostitutes over the past five years.
The Tennessean reported that two others, Kenneth L. Dagley and Quinton M. Roath, pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Nashville after they were indicted earlier this month.
According to the indictment, the two men are accused of transporting the prostitutes across state lines. Some of the trips were to Kentucky.
Roath, 20, was a friend of Casey West. Dagley would help take calls and set up meetings with prostitutes, a federal indictment alleges.
Authorities began the investigation early this year after an anonymous tipster told police that students from a high school in Robertson County were being hired as prostitutes.
According to the indictment, West advertised for escort services in several online and print publications and also called clients to solicit business.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty. Roath and Teresa West have remained in jail while awaiting trial. Dagley and Casey and Diana West have been released.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
