A woman is in court after being accused of bringing over her
niece to the U.S. in order for her to be her husband’s sèx slave,
according to court proceedings.
The Queens, New York
woman came face to face in court today with her heartbroken sister, the
mother of the alleged victim. Ana Lopez told jurors that she allowed her
15-year-old daughter go to New York illegally because she could not
afford to raise her in El Salvador. Lopez said she let the girl stay
with her sister, Angelica Mencias, with the promise of a better life.
“If
I could have taken the legal route, I would have done it the right
way,” Lopez said through an interpreter. “But since Angelica gave this
opportunity she could not pass it up.”
The
court appearance marked the first time Lopez from El Salvador was in
the U.S., a trip she made in order to testify against her own sister.
Prosecutors
said that in August 2010, after Angelica, 57, paid a smuggler to help
the girl enter the country, she watched her husband, Javier, 38,
allegedly r*pe the girl in his Richmond Hill home after plying her beer
and alcohol. Months earlier, she had the asked the girl to be their
surrogate.
The girl refused, but came to New York anyway after a
promise from the aunt of a good job and education. Both Menciases faces
more than 25 years in prison if convicted of r*pe, sèxual abuse and
endangering the welfare of a child charge.
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