N.Y. Couple Charged With Slaveholding

A New York City child welfare worker and her husband were arrested Wednesday on charges they forced a Nigerian girl to be their servant for nine years, beating her until she was scarred.

Prosper Emeka Udogwu and Ifeoma Ezeonu Udogwu, who live in Elmsford, N.Y., were charged in a 10-count complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. It accuses them of conspiracy, bringing in illegal immigrants, involuntary servitude, witness tampering and making false statements.

Federal prosecutors said Ifeoma Udogwu is employed by New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services, where her duties include investigating child abuse cases. A spokeswoman for that department said Udogwu has been employed by ACS since 1988 but was suspended without pay Wednesday. She said Udogwu had investigated child abuse cases until last year and most recently evaluated the placement needs of children coming into foster care.

According to court papers, the case came to light last year when the girl’s screams caused neighbors to call the police. Court documents said the girl had not told anyone about her alleged plight before then because she was afraid the Udogwus would find out and would beat her or harm her family.

During a hearing Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jennifer Moore asked that the couple be held without bail because they might flee the country. She said they have dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and passports and that they own three “substantial” properties in Nigeria.

U.S. Magistrate Douglas Eaton denied the request, setting $10,000 cash bail and a $300,000 personal recognizance bond for each defendant. Ifeoma Udogwu was released after the hearing, but her husband remained in custody.

Lawyers representing the couple said they denied the allegations in the young woman’s complaint. They said the Udogwus, who have four children, ages 6 to 13, have strong ties here.

Jerry Tritz, Prosper Udogwu’s attorney, said his client believed the girl was his daughter from a previous relationship. He denied that she was held prisoner at the Udogwu home and said she graduated from a public high school while living with the couple and is now attending college in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., with their financial help.

“Her credibility will be drawn into question,” he said.

The complaint alleges that the arrangement began in 1989, when the couple persuaded the parents of the girl, then 13, to let her come to the United States by telling them that she could attend a trade school and enjoy a better life.

According to the complaint, once the girl arrived in New York, the couple made her work as a household servant without pay. They allegedly barred her from speaking to anyone outside their home, forbade her from using the telephone, withheld her identification and other documents, threatened to harm her family and beat her so severely that she was scarred.

The couple allegedly struck her with belts, slippers and a Nigerian-style broom made of sticks tied together.

The girl charged that in one 1993 incident, detailed in the complaint, Prosper Udogwu beat her so hard she fell down the stairs, cutting her arm on the railing. An FBI agent said in court papers that the girl’s arm is scarred. The agent alleged that there were incidents from 1989 to 1998 in which the girl was forced to kneel on the floor and hold her hands above her head for long periods of time while she was beaten. The agent said the girl’s knees are scarred and discolored.

The agent said the girl also has scars from deep fingernail scratches she allegedly received from Ifeoma Udogwu, and other markings on her back and legs from beatings.