MIAMI, March 24 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury has indicted a Pembroke Pines, Fla., couple on charges of smuggling a Haitian girl into the United States to use as a household slave.
Marie and Willie Pompee were charged with concealing an alien, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.
Maximum punishment is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The indictment said she was brought to the couple's $400,000 home when she was 9 and came to the attention of authorities in 1999 when she was 12.
Marie Pompee is in custody, but her husband, Willy, and son, Willy Jr., have fled to their homeland of Haiti. Willy Jr. is also charged with sexual assault on the girl.
The girl said she was fed very little, forced to clean house and made to sleep on the floor in addition to suffering the sexual assaults.
Marie Pompee's attorney said Tuesday the girl was never endangered by his client.
The girl is currently in foster care.
