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| Inez Martinez Garcia, and Marcial Garcia Hernandez |
(Scroll down for video) A young woman will finally get justice after her aunt forced her to be a sex slave to her uncle and his friends.
The husband and wife will be jailed for 20 years each after they pleaded guilty to felony charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child and lewd acts on a child.
Inez Martinez Garcia, and Marcial Garcia Hernandez, of Oceanside, San Diego, California helped their niece, then 12-years-old, enter the U.S. illegally after promising her parents that they would take care of her and send her to school so she can get a good education.
Instead, the California couple used the girl as a sex slave, housekeeper, nanny and prostitute. They also sent her to work in a restaurant, and stole her wages. Garcia, 44, was sentenced Monday to 20-years in prison, and her husband, Hernandez, 45, was sentenced to 23-years behind bars.
The two were accused of forcing the girl to clean, cook, and take care of their three children. They also forced her to have sex with Hernandez and with other men for money. When the girl refused, she was beaten and forced to eat hot peppers, according to testimony during the trial.
The case is "a tragic reminder that trafficking exists and is increasing in San Diego County," Dist Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said after the judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County.
“There must be something very wrong with this woman. How could a woman do something like this to her niece? And why would she provide an underage girl for her husband to cheat on her? It is sick,” Amber Gonzales, 39, of San Diego, California told YourJewishNews.com after the verdict.
Sadly, this is not the first case of an aunt using her niece as a sex slave, as we reported earlier, 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 sex slave, according to court proceedings.
The Queens, New York woman came face to face in court 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 rape 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 face more than 25 years in prison if convicted of rape, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child charge. San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com
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