News Channel 2: Johnson City Father Convicted of Selling Daughters to Sex Film Ring

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – A Tri-Cities man has been convicted of selling his children to a sex film ring.

On Thursday, a federal jury convicted Ronnie McCall, 60, of Johnson City on four counts related to the sexual exploitation of three of his daughters.

The counts include permitting a child in his custody and control to travel in interstate commerce to produce child pornography; production of child pornography; production of child pornography by a parent; and using a means of interstate commerce to induce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity (child rape under Tennessee law).

Prosecutors said their daughters were 5, 11, 14 and 16 at the time.

Prosecutors also said the man who allegedly had sexual contact with the underage girls and filmed the encounters committed suicide.

“This prosecution underscores the importance of our partnership with local and state authorities, social service agencies, and others in protecting children, who are some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Nancy Harr, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

“While we cannot reclaim the children’s lost childhoods or innocence, we will hold people who sexually victimize children accountable for their conduct,” Harr added.

A sentencing has been scheduled for June 6, 2016. McCall faces a mandatory sentence of 30 years in prison.

His wife, 40-year-old Connie McCall, faced the same charges and pleaded guilty in February 2014 to production of child porn by a parent.

Johnson City police arrested the McCalls in 2012 and charged them with felony child abuse and neglect. Both have been in federal custody since October 2013.

Investigators said the family lived in a mobile home and described the conditions inside the home as deplorable.