(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Two, undocumented Aurora residents have been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after they pleaded guilty to forced labor and, essentially, enslaving two children.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Illinois said 27-year-old Santos Teodoro Ac-Salazar and 34-year-old Olga Choc Laj came to the United States from Guatemala about three years ago with two children, who were not their own, in order to more easily gain entry and avoid detention.
The children were 10 and 15 at the time. They were not enrolled in school. They were not allowed to leave home, except in limited circumstances, and prosecutors said the kids were forced to work as domestic servants and childcare providers.
Prosecutors said the children were beaten or threatened if they didn’t do as they were told.
The older child had jobs outside the home, from which nearly all of the earnings went to the couple.
“The abuses suffered by the victims in this case are unforgivable,” said acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual in a statement.
He said it shows “the extent to which many will go in order to enter and stay within this country, and the prevalence of child trafficking and labor trafficking.”
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