Woman Charged in 'Slavery' of Nanny, A Chinese National

Woodbury, MN – A Woodbury woman has been charged with human labor trafficking after another woman was found with two black eyes, broken ribs, a broken sternum and numerous bruises.

County Attorney Pete Orput announced Friday that Lili Huang, 35, of Woodbury, was charged with five felony counts related to human labor trafficking.

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Huang was also charged with felony seizing passport with intent to violate labor trafficking, false imprisonment, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault causing substantial bodily harm.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, a woman was found wandering the streets in Woodbury during the middle of the night.

The woman told officers that she was from Shanghai, China, and was "hired" as a "nanny" by the defendant who lived at the 9700 block of Wellington in Woodbury.

According to a Washington County news release, after the woman and defendant’s family moved from China to Woodbury, she was given a room and $890 per month for nanny services of the children.

After coming to Woodbury, the woman said that she was forced to work up to 18 hours a day caring for the children, cooking and cleaning. Police say she was never allowed out of the home.

During the time in the home, she was allegedly physically assaulted by the defendant, often times in front of the children. When this occurred, she told the defendant she wanted to return to China.

The defendant acquired the victim’s passport and kept it and told the woman she was "not going anywhere."

The physical assaults continued on July 4 with the defendant grabbing the woman’s hair and bashing her head into the table as well as other hard objects.

Police say by July 10 the woman was so disabled by the beatings that she could not get up off her hands and knees for four hours.

On July 13, the defendant allegedly came after the woman with a knife threatening to kill her after the woman accidentally spilled food on the counter. The woman appeared to police to be extraordinarily and unhealthily thin.

The woman stated that when she came to the United States she weighed 120 pounds. She now weighs 88 pounds. She said the defendant allowed her to eat very little and when she did, it was just scraps.

"Human labor trafficking is a crime that no one can believe exists in their community," Orput stated. "However, it is here, it is being committed by some of our citizens, and it amounts to nothing less than slavery in the 21st century. We are determined, as part of this office’s Major Prosecution unit, to attack this issue just as we have attacked sex trafficking of juveniles."

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