The woman told officers that she was from Shanghai, China, and was “hired” as a “nanny” by the defendant who lived at the 9700 block of Wellington in Woodbury.
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Huang appeared in court on Friday to face her charges: labor trafficking, seizing a passport with intent to violate labor trafficking, false imprisonment, assault with a risky weapon, and assault causing substantial bodily harm, according to a court attorney press release. Huang remains in jail after making her initial court appearance Friday, the Star Tribune reported.
The Chinese woman, unidentified by the police, flew to the US last March and found work as the nanny of the Huangs and the family’s housekeeper. According to the complaint, the nanny was forced to work up to 18 hours a day doing child care, cooking and cleaning.
The woman told police Huang also threatened to kill her with a knife after she accidentally spilled food. When taken to a hospital, she was found to have had many broken bones.
She was given crackers for meals and her weight had dropped from 54.5 kilograms when she arrived in the U.S. to under 40, the complaint said.
When she told Huang she wanted to go back to China, Huang allegedly took her passport and told her she “was not going anywhere”.
“We are determined, as part of this office’s Major Prosecution unit, to attack this issue just as we have attacked sex trafficking on juveniles”, said County Attorney Pete Orput.
A bag hidden under the nanny’s mattress contained a large amount of her hair, which the defendant allegedly ripped from the nanny’s head. It was the first time she left the Huang home because she wasn’t allowed to for the past months that she had been working as their nanny.
The victim was also banned from leaving Huang’s home. According to the complaint, the nanny was beaten so severely once that she could not stand up.
On July 10th, she was so badly beaten that she was forced to walk on her hands and knees like a dog for four hours, according to the Woodbury Bulletin.
Lili Huang, 35, is reportedly facing five felony charges for abusing her nanny and keeping her in slave-like conditions. She was held on $1 million unconditional bail and $350,000 conditional bail.
The victim told officials Huang only fed her scraps. Huang grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against tables and other objects, and then punched and kicked her while she was on the floor, according to the complaint.
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Dan Le, a Minneapolis attorney for Huang, did not immediately respond to a phone message and email from The Associated Press on Saturday.
