An Arkansas politician claims he gave away his two adopted daughters, aged three and six, to a rapist because they were threatening to kill his family, and had already crushed a family pet to death.

Justin Harris, a Republican who sits in the state's House of Representatives, legally adopted the two girls in March 2013 - but handed them over after just six months to a man who would go on to rape the eldest.

Eric Francis, the head teacher at a Christian school Harris ran, was allowed to look after the two girls, and had custody of them for more than a year before he was arrested for sexual assault.

Francis is now serving 40 years in prison for his crimes against the six-year-old. Both girls have since found a new home.

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Revelation: Arkansas State Rep. Justin Harris and his wife Marsha (above, right with their three biological sons) gave away their adopted daughter, 6, to a man now serving 40 years in prison for raping the young girl.

Sex crimes: Eric Francis (above) is now serving 40 years in prison for rape

Blame game: In a press conference on Friday Rep. Harris blamed what happened on the Arkansas Department of Human Services

Harris, however, has been engulfed in scandal this week - as it only just emerged that he had legally adopted the girls - a fact he neglected to mention when publicly commenting on the rape when it first came to light.

As part of his attempt to justify his actions, Harris has claimed the young girls, and their eight-year-old sister whom he also took in but did not formally adopt, were threatening to kill his family.

Harris, who has three biological sons, said the eldest girl, who was eight, said she would 'kill everyone in the family'.

He took the death threat so seriously, he said, that he, his wife and their three sons barricaded themselves in a separate room at night for safety.

Harris also claimed that another of the girls 'crushed a family pet to death', further convincing them to get rid of their recently-adopted charges.

He did not specify what kind of pet it was, nor whether the three-year-old or the six-year-old was responsible.

Harris, who was first elected in 2010, made his public statements after initially refusing to comment.

The Arkansas Times revealed the link between Harris and the rape victim in an exposé this week, after learning that he had adopted the girls from prosecutor documents used in Francis' trial.

Despite the legal evidence, Harris at first refuse to confirm the link, then quoted a passage from the Bible.

'No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you,' he told the reporter.

He then added: 'You don't know what we've been through this past year. You have no idea what my family has been through. I don't care what the people of Arkansas think about me.

'I don't care if I lose my position. I care what my wife thinks about me, and I care what my three sons think about me.'

According to a police report from Sgt. Kimberly A. Warren: 'Mr. and Mrs. Harris placed the girls into the care of Eric Francis and his wife Stacy [sic] Francis in October 2013.

'It was later reported to the Department of Human Services that Mr. and Mrs. Harris had left the children with another family and had basically abandoned them. This incident was reported to the child abuse hotline and the children were interviewed.'

It was during that interview that police learned the 6-year-old had been the victim of sexual abuse.

She stated that Francis had raped her genital area to help her go to sleep, a claim he did not deny.

The incident happened while his wife was away for two weeks on a trip to Pennsylvania.

Scandal: After it was revealed the couple gave away the girls, their lawyer released a statement saying, 'Rep. and Mrs. Harris have suffered a severe injustice'

Christian school: Pictured is Growing God's Kingdom Preschool, in which Rep. Harris owns, employed Francis for three months

It was also reported in the story that the Harris family 'continued to accept adoption subsidy money even after giving the children away.'

Following the publication of the story, he and his wife, who have three biological sons, released a statement through their lawyer.

'Rep. and Mrs. Harris have suffered a severe injustice. Due to threats of possible abandonment charges, they were unable to reach out to DHS for help with children who presented a serious risk of harm to other children in their home,' the statement read.

'Upon the advice of both a psychiatrist and a pediatrician, they were forced to move the children to the home of trusted friends, who had a lot of experience with children with reactive attachment disorder. Rep. and Mrs. Harris are devastated about the outcome of that decision, but faced with no good option, they did the best that they knew how.'

I don't care what the people of Arkansas think about me. I don't care if I lose my position. I care what my wife thinks about me, and I care what my three sons think about me.

He also offered another explanation in an interview with Arkansas Online saying: 'When our adoption became final, we went to the court, the whole family, exchanged teddy bears and everything - and it was like a light bulb suddenly flipped on for the girls.

'They knew, suddenly knew, that this was their forever home, and they were no longer ever going back to Mom's house.

'There was anger and an instant behavior change.'

He claims he put the girls in counseling but it did not help, and that is when he decided to rehome the two.

Francis lost his job at the school while in custody of the girls due to performance issues, but Rep. Harris and his wife did not take the girls back at that point.

At some point before he was arrested and after his firing, Francis and his wife gave the two girls away to another family, where they are now living.

Rep. Harris also said in that interview with Arkansas Online that Francis and his wife had three adopted children that they obtained internationally, and that he trusted them as they had passed those background checks.

Francis also had no criminal history, Rep. Harris claimed in that interview.

The mother who now has custody of the young girls said: 'I don't like that they took this path to get here, but they are home now, and they are loved and cherished. This is God's plan. They are our daughters. They are precious, precious, amazing girls, and we are so blessed to have them.'

Harris also placed some of the blame on officials in the Arkansas Department of Human Services, whom he said misled them as to the abuse suffered by the girls.

That is when they decided to give the girls to the Francis family, and at that point began sending all stipends they received to them.

'Faced with no help from DHS, we thought we had found a perfect solution,' said Rep. Harris.

Response: 'I don't care what the people of Arkansas think about me. I don't care if I lose my position. I care what my wife thinks about me, and I care what my three sons think about me,' said Rep. Harris

Rapist: Francis pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault in the second degree

The Arkansas Times piece, written by Benjamin Hardy, also points out that in that state there is no law that prohibits parents from leaving their child in another individual's care.

The idea that someone could use the foster care system to treat their adopted children like basketballs, tossing them from family to family is horrible. Then, you have an elected leader who represents an antigovernment agenda; yet, he makes his living off of government funding. This is hypocrisy at its highest level.

It is for this reason that rehoming is such a scary practice according to Amy Webb, a spokesperson for the Department of Human Services.

As she points out, these families are not vetted in the same way an agency would vet other potential parents.

For this reason, parents that may be abusive or predatory can still manage to get custody of children through re-homing.

In most cases, custody of an adopted child can be transferred simply by both sets of parents signing a document, and child protective services will only step in if they suspect the child is not being properly treated, which can be near impossible for them to judge at times.

This practice is legal in almost every single state in the country, even though it is a form of human trafficking.

On Wednesday, Arkansas Rep. Greg Leding introduced a bill to prevent rehoming.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has also instructed the state to review adoption procedures.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, who was aware of that fact that Rep. Harris had rehomed the girls when Francis was charged in 2014 but unable to speak out at the time as the case had not yet been made public said: 'I was shocked. I'm appalled. Why would anyone go to the trouble of adopting a child and then give the child away?'

Rep. Eddie Armstrong released a statement on behalf of the House Democrats in the state, saying: 'First, our thoughts and prayers are with this little girl and other children that may have been exposed to injury as a consequence of this practice.

'I think everyone in our caucus was dismayed to learn that rehoming is allowable in Arkansas, and a bill has already been filed to address this tragic gap in the law so that our children can be protected.'

Democratic Party Chair Vince Insalaco has called for Rep. Harris' resignation.

Arkansas House Speaker Jeremy Gillam meanwhile said that Rep. Harris will face no repercussions for rehoming the two young girls.

'At this time, that situation, as far as we're concerned from the House perspective, is past tense, and we're moving forward and looking at the remainder of our calendar and finishing the month strong,' Gillam said.

Rep. Harris confirmed this in his press conference, saying he and his wife had been cleared of all charges.