A Dallas County grand jury soon will consider the case of a Selma couple charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse and sexual torture.

Justin and Sarah Smith of Selma appeared in Dallas County District Court Thursday for a preliminary hearing, but their attorneys waived the hearing and asked that their clients’ cases go directly to the grand jury.

Justin Smith, 29, whose last listed address was 225 Faulk Ave., Selma, is charged with four counts of child molestation, four counts of sodomy, four counts of incest, four counts of sexual abuse, four counts of rape and four counts of sexual torture.

Sarah Smith, 28, whose last listed address was the same as her husband’s, is charged with four counts of child molestation, four counts of sodomy, four counts of incest, four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of sexual torture.

Fourth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Michael Jackson said he does not expect the grand jury currently in session to hear the cases. “It will come at a later time,” Jackson said.

The couple is out on bond, a combined bond of nearly $1.5 million on two arrests. Justin Smith’s total bond is $600,000. Sarah Smith’s total bond is $825,000.

Dallas County Sheriff’s investigator Janet Cole said the arrests and charges were the result of an ongoing investigation since April 2010.

“It began when some concerned citizens came up and stated the children were being neglected and staying in a home not fit to stay in,” Cole said.

The investigator and representatives from the Department of Human Resources visited the Selma home to investigate.

Authorities found mattresses with bugs in them and no sheets; piles of dirty clothes strewn through the house; dirty diapers in the floor and other areas of the house and days-old food left out on the table, counters and the near the stove.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Cole said. “It was filthy.”

The four children, ranging in age from 8 months to 10 years, were taken from the home and placed with relatives.

“As they began to feel comfortable, they began to speak of sexual abuse against the mother,” Cole said. “Eventually, as they started to feel safe they began telling everything the father and mother would do to them.”