Florida's top prosecutor says two adults turned a big rig into what he called a "rolling prison," confining four children to the cramped sleeper cab of a semi-truck for roughly six years while it hauled freight between Miami and Atlanta.

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday that Keisha Monique Epps, 51, of Georgia, and Tamra Marshon Stewart, 37, have been charged in connection with the abuse and neglect of the four children — two girls and two boys — who were between 5 and 9 years old when the confinement began in December 2019, according to News4Jax and FOX 13 Tampa Bay.

Investigators say the children were forced to share a single bunk, were rarely allowed off the truck to eat, bathe or use a bathroom, and went without schooling for about five years. Two of the children were found with untreated burns that left permanent scarring, officials said.

"A Rolling Prison"

"These children were trapped in a rolling prison and abused by the adults who were supposed to protect them. Florida has zero tolerance for anyone who preys on children." — Attorney General James Uthmeier

Uthmeier said the truck would occasionally stop at travel plazas, where the adults would shower or use the restroom themselves — but leave the children locked inside. Stewart faces charges including sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, along with battery and child neglect counts. Epps faces sexual battery, molestation and neglect charges as well as four counts of failing to report child abuse, according to the AG's official news release.

Both women were taken into custody by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and are being held at the Duval County Jail. Uthmeier said his office intends to "pursue with everything we have" the death penalty in the case and that additional charges against both defendants could still be filed as the investigation continues.

Officials have not publicly detailed where the four children are now living or what medical and psychological care they are receiving, though authorities said they have since been removed from the truck and placed outside the couple's custody. The case remains under investigation by Florida's Office of Statewide Prosecution in coordination with Jacksonville police.