This week’s arrest of three out-of-town contractors on charges that they paid a 17-year-old girl for sex is, to say the least, disturbing.

Even if these 40-something-year-old men didn’t know she was 17, it should have been more than obvious that she was too young.

One of the men allegedly met the girl at Wal-Mart a few months ago, according to Franklin police. The pair apparently struck up a conversation, exchanged phone numbers and began text messaging. According to police, they got together after that.

Then the man allegedly told his co-workers that they too could pay the girl for sex, so they met up with her at a local hotel, according to police.

The girl’s mother became suspicious of her daughter’s activities and contacted police. The teen then identified the men, who are now facing felony charges.

We like to think of Franklin as a place where this kind of stuff doesn’t happen, but this is a reminder that you can’t ever be too sure.