FORT WORTH, Texas — A North Texas couple was in federal court on Thursday over a criminal complaint filed against them for charges of forced labor, the U.S. Justice Department said in a release.The affidavit filed with the complaint states that Mohamed Toure, 57, and Denise Cros-Toure, 57, got the victim, who was five years old at the time and didn't speak English, to travel alone to Southlake, Texas from her home village in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa in January 2000 to work for the defendants. Until the victim escaped in August 2016 with the help of former neighbors, she was forced to perform labor for long hours without pay, the documents state.
"The defendants required her to cook, clean, do the laundry, perform yard work, and paint, as well as care for their five children," the affidavit states. "Although the victim was close in age to the children, the defendants denied her access to schooling and the other opportunities afforded to their children."
The victim's documents were also taken away after her visa expired, causing her to remain in the U.S. unlawfully. She was also isolated from her family and abused physically and emotionally, the affidavit said.
The government now has 30 days to present the complaint to a grand jury for possible indictment. The maximum sentence for forced labor is 20 years in prison.
Scott Palmer, attorney for Denise, says the girl was not brought here for any of the listed purposes and that this case is not what it appears to be. He says the girl is somehow related to the family, and that the girl’s father wanted her to leave Guinea for a better life. Palmer also says the girl was not brought here at age 5, but rather in her early teens—perhaps 13. He says the Toure family is also from Guinea. Officials don’t have a clear picture of her actual age.
He says the husband and wife are both still in jail and face a detention hearing on Monday.
A neighbor says the family introduced the girl as their niece, and she was often seen walking both alone and with the family, running errands and grabbing Starbucks.
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