Couple allegedly forced niece into sex

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NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A New York married couple is on trial on a charge they brought the wife's niece from El Salvador to New York to force her to bear a child for them.

Angelica and Javier Mencias, who live in the Richmond Hill neighborhood in Queens, were arrested in 2010, the New York Post reported. Their trial on charges of rape and child endangerment began last week.

Investigators say the niece, then 15, arrived in New York in August 2010. Her aunt and uncle allegedly plied her with alcohol and Javier then raped her.

The girl told investigators she had been warned New York was dangerous and it was unsafe to leave the house.

"They acted together as a sexual assault team and turned their niece's life into a living hell," Assistant District Attorney Marjorie Fisher told jurors in her opening statement.

Unable to speak English, the girl was trapped until she heard someone outside the house speaking Spanish, Fisher said.

Ivelissa Luna, who was walking her dog, said she called police as soon as the "crying and desperate" girl told her she had been raped.

Lawyers for the defendants say there is no proof of forcible rape of their niece.