Prosecutor: Woman's treatment of nanny '21st century slavery'
File photo.
WOODBURY, Minn. (KMSP) - A Woodbury woman is charged after allegedly treating her hired nanny like a slave, according to the Washington County Attorney.
35-year-old Lili Huang is charged with five counts related to human labor trafficking, including false imprisonment.
According to the criminal complaint, a woman was found wandering the streets of Woodbury in the middle of the night. She had many bruises and injuries, including two black eyes, broken ribs and a broken sternum.
She told police she was from Shanghai, China and had been hired to work as a nanny by Huang at her home on the 9000 block of Wellington in Woodbury.
She moved with the family from China to Woodbury and received $890 a month for being a nanny to the children. She told police, once in Woodbury, she was forced to work 18 hours a day, only ate scraps was never allowed out of the home, and was beaten by Huang. Police say the woman now weighs only 88 pounds. She weighed about 122 when she first came to the U.S.
When she told Huang she wanted to go back to China, Huang allegedly took her passport and told her she "was not going anywhere."
The woman told police Huang also threatened to kill her with a knife after she accidentally spilled food.
Pete Orput, the Washington County Attorney, said crime like this "amounts to nothing less than slavery in the 21st century."