Egyptians Who Enslaved Girl, 10, Get U.S. Prison

Two Egyptian nationals who pleaded guilty to enslaving a 10-year-old Egyptian girl at their Southern California home, making her work long hours serving their family of seven, were sentenced on Monday to prison terms.

Abdel Nasser Youssef Ibrahim, 57, was sentenced to three years in federal prison and his former wife, Amal Ahmed Ewisabd Motelib, 43, was given 22 months behind bars by a federal judge. Prosecutors said the pair will be deported after serving their sentences.

U.S. District Judge James Selna also ordered the defendants to pay their victim more than $76,000 in restitution, which represents the money the girl should have been paid during the two years she worked for their family.

“The young victim in this case was subject to inhumane conditions that included both physical and verbal abuse,” U.S. Attorney Debra Yang said in a written statement.

“As a result of recent changes in federal law she has been granted a visa that will allow her to stay and hopefully prosper in the United States,” Yang said.

In pleading guilty in June the defendants admitted bringing the girl to the United States from Egypt in 2000 when she was 10 under an arrangement with her parents, confiscating her passport and forcing her to work 16 hours a day as a domestic servant.

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