News

November 26, 2009

NY: Woman forced to work as prostitute, feds say

COLLEEN LONG Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK — A young woman from Mexico was smuggled over the border and forced to work as a prostitute for years in Brooklyn, and the remains of an infant were found in concrete at the home where she was held prisoner, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The woman was beaten so frequently by her captors, sometimes with bricks and wooden boards, that scars and bruises covered her body, according to a federal affidavit.

Domingo Salazar and his wife, Norma Mendez, appeared in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on sex trafficking charges and were being held without bail. Their attorneys had no comment.

Federal officials received information this month on a possible sex trafficking case and located the woman Tuesday night near the home in Brooklyn. According to the affidavit, the woman, who is unnamed, told authorities she met Salazar in Mexico in 2007 through mutual friends. She got pregnant in March of that year, and he suggested they move to the U.S. so the child could have a better life.

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