FRANKLIN—Three men face felony charges for allegedly paying a 17-year-old Franklin-area girl for sex.

Franklin police arrested Gerald Carr, 44, of Plymouth, N.C.; Ernest Friedel, 40, of Hazlehurst, Ga., and Brad Dunlap, 46, of Mt. Carmel, Tenn.

The three are contractors working at International Paper, said Lt. Tim Whitt. The Franklin mill is undergoing a renovation to reopen as a fluff pulp mill in June.

Whitt said about a month or two ago, Dunlap met the victim at Walmart in Franklin. They allegedly exchanged telephone numbers and began sending text messages.

“Later that evening, a meeting took place,” Whitt said.

Dunlap gave the girl’s phone number to Carr and Friedel, who also contacted and met her at a local hotel, he said.

The girl’s mother became suspicious of her daughter’s activities and called police on Feb. 22. The teen identified the three men, Whitt said.

Charges are related to the trio using their cell phones to arrange meetings with the victim and then picking her up in their vehicles to take her to the hotel, he said.

Whitt did not want to say how much the men allegedly paid the girl.

“I don’t know if (Southampton County Commonwealth Attorney) Eric Cooke would want to divulge that,” he said. “There was an exchange of money.”

Carr was charged with using electronic means for child sex, use of vehicle to promote prostitution, carnal knowledge and solicitation for prostitution.

Dunlap was charged with using electronic means for child sex, three counts of use of vehicle to promote prostitution, solicitation for prostitution, aiding prostitution and carnal knowledge. Friedel faces charges of use of a vehicle to promote prostitution, carnal knowledge and solicitation for prostitution.