Federal indictment in 'sex slave' charge

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BALTIMORE, May 16 (UPI) -- A Maryland couple have been indicted on sex abuse charges, including the treatment of a 15-year-old-girl as a "sex slave," a federal indictment states.

The indictment against John Andrew Blaes, 48, and Margaret Ellen Jones, 36, of Parkville, Md., made May 9, includes charges of producing and distributing child pornography, and transporting the girl across state lines, from North Carolina to Maryland, for sexual reasons, The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.

The pair were involved in "a sexual relationship involving bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism," and recruited other people online to join them, including the North Carolina girl, the indictment said.

Between July and November 2011, after bringing the girl to the home they share, Blaes and Jones had sex with the girl multiple times, videotaping and distributing the evidence online, the indictment reports.

Blaes and Jones were indicted on sex abuse and child pornography charges in Baltimore County in January 2012, and are scheduled to go on trial in late May. It was not immediately clear how the federal indictment would affect their cases, the newspaper said.

U.S. attorney spokeswoman Marcia Murphy said both cases would proceed.

"We work with our state partners on these sorts of cases to get the best results," she said.