Feb 25, 2008 1:09 pm US/Eastern
Family On Trial For Keeping Girl As "Slave"
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
Trial is underway in a Ft. Lauderdale federal courtroom for a Southwest Miami family accused of keeping a teenage Haitian girl as their personal "slave."
Smuggled into Miami from her home country at the age of 14, prosecutors say Evelyn Theodore, her two daughters and an ex-husband of one of the daughters kept Simone Celestin in their home for six years; making her work 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. Prosecutors say the family used the fear of deportation to keep Celestin as a virtual slave. She was not allowed to go to school and was reportedly beaten when she resisted.
Prosecutors say the girl was a so-called "restavek," who are hidden as slaves within the Haitian immigrant community.
Defense attorneys say the family, which is charged with human trafficking and forced labor, was just trying to give the girl a better life 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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.)
