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PHILADELPHIA - A Chester County man is accused of forcing two teenage immigrant girls to work on a mushroom farm for little-to-no compensation, and threatening to have them punished or deported if they did not obey him.
What we know:
Ramiro Caal Jolomna was charged with felony counts of trafficking and involuntary servitude, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.
It's alleged that Jolomna charged the girls, ages 14 and 17, "debts" for having them brought into the country from Mexico.
Investigators learned that the 14-year-old girl was forced to work 16-hour shifts, seven days a week, and had her paycheck signed over to Jolomna and his wife.
The victim was also forced to perform "domestic chores," which included cleaning his house.
The older teen, investigators say, was brought into the country as a sponsorship and was seeking to find work to send money back to her sick father in Guatemala.
Jolomna is accused of taking most of the 17-year-old's wages under similar circumstances.
What they're saying:
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday called the accusations "disturbing" in a press release Monday.
This is a disturbing set of facts involving a man preying on vulnerable girls who wanted to make an honest living and help their families back home," Sunday said.
"Labor trafficking, while not as often in the headlines, is cruel and dehumanizing behavior that forces victims into a routine of helplessness and silence," he added.