Woodbury Woman Admits To Enslaving Nanny, Will Be Deported

WOODBURY, MN — An east metro woman charged with enslaving a nanny has pleaded guilty in federal court to furthering forced labor. Lili Huang, of Woodbury, was charged with five felony counts related to human labor trafficking July 2016.

Huang admitted to imprisoning the 58-year-old woman and abusing her using various methods. Police say at one point, the nanny was so disabled by the beatings that she could not get up off her hands and knees for four hours.

Huang will pay the victim at least $60,000 restitution and $5,000 to the Domestic Trafficking Victims Fund, the Pioneer Press reported. Huang will be deported after she is sentenced.

According to the criminal complaint, the nanny was found by police wandering the streets in Woodbury during the middle of the night. The woman had numerous injuries, including two black eyes, broken ribs and a broken sternum. She had numerous bruises.

The woman told officers that she was from Shanghai, China, and was "hired" as a nanny by Huang, who lived at the 9700 block of Wellington Lane in Woodbury. After the woman and Huang'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 physically assaulted by Huang, often times in front of the children, according to the criminal complaint. When this occurred, she told Huang she wanted to return to China.

Huang acquired the victim’s passport and kept it and told the woman she was "not going anywhere." The physical assaults continued on July 4, 2016 with Huang grabbing the woman’s hair and bashing her head into the table as well as other hard objects, according to the criminal complaint.

Police say by July 10, 2016 the woman was so disabled by the beatings that she could not get up off her hands and knees for four hours. Police say on July 13, Huang came after the woman with a knife threatening to kill her after the nanny accidentally spilled food on the counter.

The woman appeared to police to be extraordinarily and unhealthily thin. She stated that when she came to the United States she weighed 120 pounds. Police said she was 88 pounds when they found her. She said Huang allowed her to eat very little and when she did, it was just scraps.

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