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Mar 4, 2008 11:52 am US/Eastern

Jury Deliberates In Haitian Slave Trial

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― A jury is now deliberating the fate of a South Florida family accused of keeping a Haitian teen as their slave for six years.

All four relatives have pleaded not guilty to forced labor and human trafficking charges. They're accused of illegally bringing Simone Celestin into the U.S. in 1999 when she was 14-years old.

Celestin testified the family illegally brought her to Florida in 1999 and they forced her to work 15 hour days, 7 days a week. She says she was given no education and was abused until she fled their home in 2005.

None of the family members testified. Defense attorneys have argued the family tried to give Celestin a better life than she would have had in Haiti.

They say her case is motivated by a desire to stay legally in the U.S.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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