Aurora Couple Forced Kids To Be Servants, Didn't School Them: Feds

AURORA, IL — An Aurora couple was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after they pleaded guilty to trafficking child labor, officials said.

Guatemalan citizens Santos Teodoro Ac-Salazar, 27, and Olga Choc Laj, 34, unlawfully entered the United States with two girls who were not their own chidlren in order to more easily be allowed into the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Illinois.

Once in the country, the pair harbored the children, then ages 10 and 15, in an Aurora residence, failed to enroll them in school, prohibited them from leaving the place except in limited circumstances and instructed them to provide false information to others, including police, according to their plea agreements.

Choc Laj told authorities the teenage girl was her cousin, while Ac-Salazar said the younger girl was his adopted daughter, but both girls said they didn't know either of them before traveling to the U.S., court records state.

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Choc Laj and the teenage girl moved to Aurora in 2019 after the girl was told she could no longer work as a roofer in Florida because she was too young, Patch reported.

Between February 2019 and February 2020, the children were forced to work as Ac-Salazar and Choc Laj's domestic servants and childcare providers for the couple's baby, born in October 2019. The pair threatened to hit them when they didn't do as they were told, according to prosecutors.

Beyond labor at the residence, the 15-year-old child was forced to work various jobs. Ac-Salazar and Choc Laj took "nearly all" the earnings from the jobs.

"This case outlines the extent to which many will go in order to enter and stay within this country, and the prevalence of child trafficking and labor trafficking occurring throughout our country on a daily basis," Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said in a statement. "The abuses suffered by the victims in this case are unforgivable. Our Office remains committed to investigating and prosecuting those who engage in all forms of trafficking and forced labor, and to bringing justice to the victims in these cases."

On Jan. 27, Choc Laj was sentenced to 78 months in prison, with a time-served credit of 8 months. Ac-Salazar received the same sentence April 25. A U.S. District Court judge also ordered both to pay $98,364 in restitution to the victims.

"Those responsible for committing these heinous crimes sought to benefit financially by abusing the most vulnerable members of our community," said HSI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Sean Fitzgerald. "Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work with our partners to prioritize the safety of children across the state of Illinois and beyond."