A 17-year-old girl endured a harrowing 10-day journey, being smuggled from Guatemala to the U.S. border.
In hindsight, she expressed to investigators that had she been aware of the challenges awaiting her upon her arrival in the United States, she would have chosen not to take on the journey.
A 40-year-old woman from West Palm Beach, related to the teen, was taken into custody by the Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office while she was employed at a restaurant on Worth Avenue on Thursday afternoon. A woman has been charged with labor trafficking involving a minor, as well as child neglect without significant bodily harm. A woman is currently in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail, with no bail set, according to court documents.
To safeguard the teen’s privacy, the Palm Beach Daily News has chosen not to disclose the identities of the woman or the restaurant involved.
Last year, the sheriff’s office initiated an investigation into the treatment of the teenager following her report to the state Department of Children and Families, according to an arrest report.
A young girl recounted to PBSO investigators her journey from Guatemala to the U.S.-Mexico border, where she was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents. During her time in custody — the arrest report does not specify her location — the teenager initially reached out to the woman, whose connection to the teen was omitted from the report provided by the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office.
According to the arrest report, Border Patrol agents inquired whether the woman would be willing to sponsor the teenager as an unaccompanied minor entering the United States, to which she responded affirmatively.
Unconscious Woman Molested by EMS Rescue Squad Worker in Florida; Perpetrator also Recorded Abuse
The two had never crossed paths prior to the teenager’s arrival in the United States. The teenager made their arrival at Palm Beach International Airport on June 4, 2023, where they soon met in person. According to investigators, the woman and her three children, aged between 13 and 17, collected the teenager and brought her to their residence in West Palm Beach.
According to investigators, the teenager was held for a duration of three to four months, during which they were compelled to work and charged for essential needs such as rent, food, a place to sleep, and medical care — all of which are mandated by state law for minors.
A report indicated that the teenager had to pay a monthly rent of $470, with payments due on the 30th of each month. According to investigators, the woman imposed a weekly fee of $60 on the girl for food, in addition to the expenses for her cellphone bill and a $500 charge for a sofa that served as the teen’s sleeping arrangement in the family’s living room.
A report indicated that the woman required the teenager to pay $100 for counterfeit documents necessary for employment and an additional $120 for work uniforms.
Upon moving in with the woman, the teenager expressed her desire to start attending school. The situation remains uncertain.
The arrest report indicates that the woman requested the teen to take on a job within a span of two weeks. A social worker from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement conducted a welfare check and informed the woman that the teenager was not permitted to work, and that she could not require the teen to cover essential living expenses, according to the report.
The woman secured a position for the teenager that allowed her to utilize the forged documents. The young girl was released from her initial position due to the company’s downturn, prompting the woman to secure another opportunity for her, according to investigators.
“When asked if the suspect had forced her to work, the minor victim stated she had not directly forced or threatened her to work but that she felt the suspect indirectly did force her and forgo her original plans of going to school when she placed all the debts on her in order to live at the home,” the arrest report said.
At that moment, the adolescent was unwell and requested to consult a physician. She informed the investigators that the woman stated the teenager would need to pay for the doctor’s visit themselves, and that she would not be covering that expense.
A report indicated that the teenager was reluctant to disclose the name of the restaurant where she worked, as it had been a source of food for her.
The situation became especially significant for the teenager as the woman started limiting the girl’s food access following the girl’s report to DCF and law enforcement, according to the report.
Columbia Pastor and Former Maury County Mayoral Candidate Takes Own Life After Being Charged with Sexual Battery
Following the teenager’s report to the DCF, the woman installed a camera in the girl’s living area, which heightened the teen’s discomfort, according to investigators.
“The suspect also reportedly had told the minor victim that the welfare checks from the O.R.R. social workers were becoming cumbersome,” investigators wrote. “The suspect demanded the minor victim change her work schedule to avoid detection by the social worker that the minor was in fact working.”
Around this period, the teenager purchased a bicycle for commuting to work, as the woman indicated she would impose a gas fee, according to the report. The young woman worked from around 3 p.m. until midnight, expressing to investigators her fear of leaving work at such a late hour and cycling home in the darkness of a city and country that felt foreign to her.
The girl expressed to investigators that had she been aware of the high costs associated with living in the United States, she would have chosen to postpone her journey. In a moment of distress, she expressed feelings of being cornered and uncertain about her next steps, which led her to seek assistance from DCF, according to the report.
“The minor victim was adamant that if the aforementioned conditions would have been known to her prior to arriving in the United States, she would not have made the voyage simply to be exploited and taken advantage of in America,” investigators wrote.
Beginning on September 14, 2023, the girl was taken from the woman’s custody while PBSO looked into her care.
On March 26, authorities visited the woman’s residence, where she corroborated parts of the girl’s statements to law enforcement. Initially, when questioned about the girl’s sleeping arrangements, she led investigators to a bedroom containing two beds, claiming the girl slept in one. However, she later retracted that statement, according to the report.
The woman acknowledged her awareness that the girl was not yet 18 years old. A significant portion of the information the woman provided to investigators during their visit to her residence has been obscured in the report.
Authorities revealed that the adolescent was subjected to exploitation, faced threats of eviction, and was compelled to cover essential living expenses.
“In addition, the disparity between the manner in which the suspect demanded payment for items from the minor victim and not from her own children who were similar in age makes her actions even more egregious and malicious,” investigators wrote. “At no time did the suspect appear remorseful for any actions.”
On Thursday, a woman was taken into custody in Palm Beach while PBSO investigators were executing a subpoena at her workplace to obtain work records, according to the sheriff’s office.
