A Utah couple is facing numerous criminal charges accusing them of sexually abusing their three daughters under the guise of “sex education.”

The husband, 35, and his wife, 39, were each charged Monday in 3rd District Court with six counts of sodomy on a child and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies, in addition to 11 other charges.

Arrest warrants were issued Monday for the couple, whose address is listed in court documents as “unknown.” The Deseret News is not naming the couple to protect the identities of the victims.

Two girls told investigators that the abuse started about five years ago when they were 7 years old and living in Salt Lake County, according to charging documents. They came home from school to find their parents naked in bed.

“We are going to do some education with you guys, sex education,” the couple told the girls, according to the charges.

Investigators say the girls were sexually abused for a year starting at that point.

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A couple of years later, a third daughter stated that her father offered her alcohol and then told her she “should have adult fun time” with her parents, according to the charges. The 14-year-old girl said she initially said no, but because they are her parents, the girl later told police “they should know what is best for her and (she) did not want to get in trouble for saying no again, so she agreed.”

The couple also engaged in sex with each other in front of the children multiple times, the charges state.

In addition to the eight first-degree felonies the husband and wife both face, the husband is also charged with child endangerment, a third-degree felony; five counts of lewdness involving a child and providing alcohol to a minor, class A misdemeanors; and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a class B misdemeanor.

The wife was also charged with three counts of lewdness involving a child, a class B misdemeanor.

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