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Indigenous & Latina Women & Children's Human
Rights News from the Americas |
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United States - Latina
Women and Children at Risk
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Sexual Slavery of Latinas in the U.S. |
| Cadenas Case
(Florida) - Page 2 |
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Group Forced Illegal Aliens Into Prostitution, U.S. Says |
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April 24, 1998 (c) New York Times |
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The young women
were lured from Mexico with offers of jobs in landscaping, health care,
housecleaning and restaurants. But in a case of modern-day slavery one
Federal official called ''a chilling reminder of prior centuries,'' they
were forced to work as prostitutes in agricultural migrant camps in
Florida and South Carolina, and sometimes were raped, beaten and forced
to have abortions, according to a Federal indictment.
In a 52-count
indictment released today by the United States Attorney's office here,
Federal prosecutors have charged 16 people, 6 of them from the same
family and all but one illegal aliens, with running a prostitution ring
that enslaved at least 20 women over 18 months, with some of the women
as young as 14. The defendants, eight of whom remain at large, were
charged with civil rights and immigration violations as well as
extortion and involuntary servitude.
Federal charges
of involuntary servitude are relatively rare -- Justice Department
officials say they have brought 10 such cases involving 150 victims over
the last three years. But groups that help abused workers say the crime
is widespread but difficult to uncover because it takes place behind
closed doors and the victims are often cut off by language and cultural
barriers.
Several
high-profile cases in recent years have heightened awareness of the
problem, including one involving dozens of deaf Mexican immigrants who
were forced to peddle trinkets in the subways and streets of New York,
and another involving more than 70 Thai women who were held in a squalid
garment factory ringed with barbed wire in Los Angeles, some for as long
as seven years.
Today, Attorney
General Janet Reno announced the creation of a Federal task force headed
by the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the
Solicitor of the Labor Department to investigate and prosecute
modern-day slavery and worker exploitation.
''The
allegations are shocking and unconscionable,'' Bill Lann Lee, the Acting
Assistant Attorney General who is co-chairman of the new task force,
said of the latest case. ''I wish I could report that the allegations in
today's indictment are an aberration. I can't.''
Between 1996
and last February, the indictment said, members of the Cadena family
from Veracruz, Mexico, smuggled the women into Texas and put them in
safe houses until they could take them to Florida and South Carolina.
There, prosecutors say, the women were forced to work as prostitutes in
brothels in a dozen rural areas to pay their smuggling debts of up to
$2,000 each. Sometimes the brothels were nothing more than trailers set
down in the migrant camps in cities like Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers
in Florida and Lake City and John's Island in South Carolina, according
to the Government.
The indictment
outlines a brutal operation that used recruiters to find the women and
brothel operators known as ''ticketeros'' forced them to work six days a
week under the threat of violence and for little pay. Federal officials
said the women were paid $3 for each sexual act but the ''ticketeros''
charged $20.
Those who tried
to escape were tracked down and brought back and beaten and raped, the
indictment said. One woman was locked in a closet for 15 days, officials
said. Some women who became pregnant were forced to have abortions and
to return to work within weeks. One pregnant women was kicked in the
abdomen and had a miscarriage, the indictment said.
The victims,
who are expected to testify at trial, have been granted temporary legal
status for one year. Justice Department officials said they are working
with social service agencies in South Florida to shelter the women and
find them employment. Lawyers for the victims, who now range in age from
15 to 41, said today that the women were all from Veracruz and most did
not speak English. The lawyers refused to identify the housing provided
for them but said some had already found other work.
''They are
really fragile,'' said Rosario Lozada Schirer, a lawyer with the
nonprofit Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, which is representing 14 of
the women. ''The younger ones have not even realized what has happened
to them.''
Those indicted from the Cadena family were Rogerio Cadena, Juan Luis
Cadena-Sosa, Carmen Cadena, Abel Cadena-Sosa, Hugo Cadena-Sosa and
Rafael Alberto Cadena-Sosa. They and 10 accused associates face up to
life in prison if convicted of all charges.
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Últimas Noticias
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News
Noticias de Dic., 2008
Dec.
2008 News
(News Added During Dec., 2008)
Texas, USA
Rescued immigrants claim kidnapping, rape, torture
Edinburg - Mario Olivares Cifuentes thought he understood the risks of illegally
crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Tales of migrants drowning in the Rio Grande or succumbing to the oppressive
South Texas sun spread frequently among those hoping to make the trek.
But for Olivares, a Guatemalan migrant, the real danger emerged only after
passing those natural perils.
For almost a day, he and 20 of his countrymen [and women] were allegedly
kidnapped, tortured, raped and held for ransom in a stash house east of Edinburg
before federal agents rescued them last week.
Their purported tormentors - a group of Mexican nationals believed to have
abducted the immigrants from another smuggling organization - are set to appear
before a federal judge today...
According to Sanchez' affidavit, the migrants were guided to an Hidalgo stash
house Nov. 24 after crossing the Rio Grande with a group of coyotes.
But within an hour of their arrival, five armed men burst into the building and
abducted them. The men guided the Guatemalans to another location, where they
reportedly turned their weapons on their victims.
The men threatened the immigrants' lives if they could not secure ransoms from
family members in the United States and abroad, the Guatemalans later told
agents.
Olivares reported being tied up overnight and beaten by the men, according to
court filings. Three... women said they were taken into back rooms and raped by
their captors...
Jeremy Roebuck
The Monitor
Dec. 2, 2008
Virginia, USA
Man Pleads Guilty to Rape of Girl, 10
A 32-year-old man pleaded guilty in Prince William Circuit Court on Monday to
raping a 10-year-old girl.
Jose Abel Zelaya-Ascencio, of no fixed address, was charged with raping the girl
at her family’s home in the 7500 block of Alleghany Court on Oct. 22, 2007.
According to court testimony Monday, the girl was awakened at 5:35 a.m. that
morning when Zelaya-Ascencio broke into the house and went into her bedroom.
The girl, who was home alone with her 7-year-old brother, said she tried to get
away, but Zelaya-Ascencio overpowered her and raped her, police said...
Amanda Stewart
Inside Northern Virginia
Dec. 1, 2008
Peru
En Iquitos discuten acciones para combatir explotación sexual infantil
Meeting in Iquitos discusses
measures to the combat sexual exploitation of
children
As part of World Day to Combat HIV / AIDS, in the city of Iquitos, a meeting
will be held to exchange intervention strategies in regard to youth who are
vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.
The primary purpose of the event is to develop strategies to reduce sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs), and to promote healthy sexual behaviors...
The meeting will also enable the development of recommendations through which
state and civil society entities in Iquitos can work to develop prevention,
care, recovery and punishment of the sexual exploitation of children and
adolescents.
En Iquitos discuten acciones para combatir explotación sexual infantil En el
marco del Día Mundial de la Lucha contra el VIH/Sida, hoy viernes se realiza en
la ciudad de Iquitos (Loreto) una reunión de intercambio de experiencias de
intervención con adolescentes y jóvenes en situación de vulnerabilidad a la
explotación sexual comercial.
La finalidad de la actividad es desarrollar acciones dirigidas a la reducción de
infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) y promover conductas sexuales saludables.
El evento es organizado por el Fondo Global, a través del Consorcio de la
Macrorregión Oriente, integrada por Acción por los Niños, la universidad
Cayetano Heredia y la fundación ADAR.
SUR Noticias
Dec. 1, 2008
Texas, USA
Por pornografía infantil sentencian a empleado de Diócesis católica
Catholic Diocese employee
sentenced for child pornography
[See also the related November 24, 2008 English language story from U.S. ICE,
posted on this page.]
Roger García tenía en su computadora más de 30 video de niños no mayores de 14
años sosteniendo relaciones sexuales con adultos
Una sentencia de 7 años y medio recibió en una corte federal un empleado de la
Diócesis católica local, declarado culpable de posesion de pornografia infantil
el pasado mes de agosto.
Se trata de Roger García, de 47 años , quien se desempeñaba como gerente de
construcciones de la Administracion de la Iglesia Católica. Fue aprehendido tres
dias después de recibir cargos formales.
El Mañana.com
Dec. 1, 2008
Costa Rica, United States
Costa Rica: Acusado de violar sobrina política Llegó tico deportado de Estados
Unidos
Man accused of raping his
underage niece-in-law is deported from the U.S. to
Costa Rica
Costa Rican citizen James Duran Vilchez, who was arrested by the International
Police agency Interpol in the state of Virginia, United States, arrived on
Saturday in Costa Rica after being deported to face criminal charges.
Duran Vilchez is wanted for the crime of sexually abusing his wife's niece
between 1997 and 1999.
A fugitive team in Virginia arrested Duran Vilchez in October, while he was
heading to work.
The Criminal Tribunal of the Second Judicial Circuit in San Jose had issued
several arrest warrants against Duran Vilchez since March 2007. A recently
issued international warrant lead to his arrest in the U.S.
El tico James Durán Vílchez, quien fue detenido por la Policía Internacional
(Interpol) en el estado de Virginia, Estados Unidos, llegó el sábado anterior al
país luego de ser deportado para hacerle frente a las acusaciones penales en su
contra.
El hombre es requerido por el delito de abusos sexuales en perjuicio de su
sobrina política, hechos que ocurrieron entre 1997 y 1999 cuando se aprovechó de
su condición para abusar sexualmente de la menor.
El Equipo de Rastreo de Fugitivos de Estados Unidos realizó el arresto en
octubre anterior, cuando el costarricense salía de su casa en el estado de
Virginia y se dirigía hacia su trabajo.
Odilie Alpízar
Presnsa Libre
Dec. 1, 2008
Noticias de Nov., 2008
Nov.
2008 News
(News Added During Nov., 2008)
Indiana, USA
Lake Station man gets probation for sexual battery
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell sentenced a former Lake Station man
to 18 months of probation for sexual battery. Edgar Lopez Sanchez, 23, of
Clarksville, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the class D felony in August.
He was taken to the Lake County Jail on a detainer warrant issued by immigration
officials because Sanchez is in the country illegally. He faces deportation
proceedings on Dec. 1.
Sanchez originally had been charged with rape and faced a maximum 20-year
sentence on the charge, which was dismissed Wednesday.
The Post Tribune
Nov. 27, 2008
Texas, USA
Laredo man receives 7½-year prison sentence for possessing child pornography
Vea tambien:
Por pornografía infantil sentencian a empleado de Diócesis católica
Laredo, Texas - A local man was sentenced Monday to 7½ years in federal prison
for possessing child pornography. This sentence was announced by acting U.S.
Attorney Tim Johnson, Southern District of Texas, and U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent in Charge Jerry Robinette.
Roger Garcia, 47, was sentenced Nov. 24 to 90 months in prison by U.S. District
Judge Micaela Alvarez. After he completes his prison sentence, Garcia will also
be subject to a 10-year term of supervised release. While on supervised release
the court ordered Garcia to comply with the following special conditions: he
must register as a sex offender; he will be prohibited from using the Internet;
and he is prohibited from working directly with anyone under 18 years old.
Garcia was indicted July 8 and was arrested three days later. He has been in
custody since he pleaded guilty to the charges in August.
Texas, USA
A system's fatal flaws
Thousands of inmates admit they're in the U.S. illegally, but even those
convicted of violent crimes are often released right back onto Houston's streets
...Dozens of suspected criminals who told jailers they were in the country
illegally are freed on bail, later abscond and are accused of more crimes, or
even vanish.
Many suspected [undocumented] immigrants convicted of crimes from prostitution
to sexual abuse avoid prison time by being sentenced to probation...
• Armando De La Cruz, a Mexican national, told jailers on two occasions in 2007
that he was undocumented. Both times, he was convicted of assaulting his wife
and released after serving his jail time. De La Cruz is now back in Harris
County Jail, charged with raping a woman at knife point behind a southeast
Houston apartment complex in July, and attempting to rape another woman less
than a week later. His defense attorney, Ricardo Gonzalez, did not return phone
calls.
• Pedro Alvarez, a convicted sex offender from El Salvador who was first
deported in 1991, racked up eight convictions in Harris County over a span of
two decades and was allowed to walk free from jail multiple times — as recently
as the spring of 2007. Immigration officials finally charged him with re-entry
after deportation in February. Sandra Zamora Zayas, the attorney who represented
Alvarez in federal court in South Texas, did not return phone messages.
"It's just amazing how long it took them to catch up with him," the mother of a
5-year-old girl Alvarez sexually assaulted in 1988 said in an interview with the
Chronicle, after learning about Alvarez's extended criminal history.
Susan Carroll
Houston Chronicle
Nov. 16, 2008
Guatemala
Discriminación racial y económica afectan a niñas
Las niñas indígenas del área rural de Guatemala tienen hoy pocas oportunidades
de desarrollo escolar por su condición étnica y económica, según la Organización
de Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO).
Racial and economic discrimination affects Girls
Indigenous girls in rural areas of Guatemala today have few opportunities for
educational development because of their ethnicity and economic status,
according to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
The
study by UNESCO reveals the disadvantages that indigenous children face in their
ability access the right to attend school, especially for girls.
According to the report, there are profound disparities in Guatemala for
socio-economic reasons, and due to one's place of residence, language and
gender. In remote regions in the country there are no schools, or the likelihood
that children will not attend or will desert school are very high.
Only 54% of indigenous 7-year-old girls have entered
primary school, compared to 71% percent of
indigenous
boys the same age and 75 percent of non-indigenous children.
Although there have been some forward steps made, the country still shows large
deficits relative to the rest of the continent.
Many parents choose to send boys to school, so that they will eventually
contribute money to the family.
At the same time, there is a prejudice that believes that females are
predestined to marry, where they will live under the tutelage of her husband.
Therefore, they do not need an education. [This concept exists in many regions
of Latin America.]
The present government is attempting to reverse this pattern by offering
resources to the poorest families, but only if those families send their
children to school and allow them to have health checkups.
Un estudio elaborado por la institución revela las desventajas de la infancia
indígena para acceder a los servicios escolares, en particular si pertenece al
sexo femenino.
De acuerdo con el texto, en Guatemala existen profundas disparidades por razones
socio-económicas, por el lugar de domicilio, el idioma y el género, las cuales
obstaculizan el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.
En los sitios remotos del país no existen escuelas o las posibilidades de que
los infantes no acudan o deserten son muy altas.
El caso es más grave en las
niñas de las etnias originarias pues sólo el 54 por ciento de quienes tienen
siete años ingresan a la primaria, comparado con el 71 por ciento de varones de
la misma edad y 75 por ciento de las no indígenas, precisa la UNESCO.
Aunque
se dieron algunos pasos de avance, el país todavía muestra grandes rezagos en
relación con el resto del continente, según el documento presentado la víspera
en Ginebra, Suiza, y conocido hoy aquí.
En este fenómeno inciden la
situación de pobreza y algunos patrones sociales de conducta, pues muchos padres
optan por enviar a la escuela a los varones para que hallen pronto un empleo y
contribuyan al sostenimiento del hogar.
Además, existe el prejuicio de que
las hembras están predestinadas al matrimonio, donde vivirán bajo la tutela de
su esposo y por ello no precisan de mayor instrucción.
El gobierno actual
intenta revertir esta situación con la transferencia de recursos a las familias
más pobres a cambio de enviar a sus hijos a la escuela y someterlos a revisiones
médicas en los puestos de salud.
Prensa Latina
Nov. 26, 2008
Florida
ICE arrests four sex traffickers and rescues nine trafficking victims who were
forced into prostitution in several South Florida brothels
Miami - R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of
Florida, and Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that Arturo-Rojas-Gonzalez, Elodia
Capilla-Diego, Fidel Gutierrez-Gonzalez, and Rosalio Valdez-Nava were arrested
on Wednesday for sex trafficking of women in several brothels across South
Florida following an ongoing investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE).
This investigation was made possible by the extensive collaboration among law
enforcement agencies committed to combat this modern day form of slavery. Law
enforcement also worked with non-governmental organizations to identify, rescue
and provide assistance to the victims. The defendants made their initial
appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres yesterday at 1:30
PM in Miami, and detention hearings are scheduled for each of the defendants on
November 25, 2008 at 10:00 AM.
According to the criminal complaints filed with the United States District
Court, ICE conducted an intensive investigation into more than a dozen brothels
and stash houses where immigrant women were being forced into prostitution.
Through statements of former victims, corroborated by surveillance and evidence
obtained through search warrants, ICE arrested the four alleged brothel
operators as part of a larger criminal organization operating similar brothels
across South Florida. Additionally, as part of ICE's efforts to dismantle this
brothel network, nine victims were rescued from locations where search warrants
were executed on November 19, 2008.
U.S. ICE
Nov. 21, 2008
Tennessee, USA
Sex-slave advocates upset over rash of Nashville incidents
Nashville's Free For Life Ministries began as a charity primarily devoted to
stopping sex slavery in places including Romania and Tanzania by funding safe
houses where girls could get away from their captives.
However, the global ministry has focused its attention back home after police
have reported a rash of local sex slave cases, WSMV reported.
"We have cases come up all the time, but no one really knows about it because
Hispanic illegal immigrants fear being deported," said sex-slave advocate Sara
Sherman.
Recently, police in Memphis busted a sex slave brothel and investigators are
still on the case of the 13-year-old Hispanic sex-slave in Brentwood -- who said
she went through unimaginable things.
This week, a 22-year-old woman told police she was driven from state to state
and forced to have sex with up to seven men a day.
Police said two men were arrested and have agreed to plead guilty in her case.
Jesus Garcia and Arturo Perez will serve just six months in jail and then face
deportation.
"There are no safe houses here so they are not even able to heal. It's not good
enough," said sex-slave advocate Cecilia Hilton.
A new sex-slave law that recently went into effect in Tennessee carries an 8 to
12 year sentence.
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