Pair Face Charges in Case of Kept Girl

An Irvine man and his former wife were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of keeping a 12-year-old Egyptian girl in involuntary servitude for two years while she lived under squalid conditions in their garage and performed household chores.

Abdel Nasser Eid Youssef Ibrahim, 44, and his former wife, Amal Ahmed Ewis-abd Motelib, 41, each face up to 50 years in prison if convicted. Their trial is set to begin July 12.

“Human trafficking offenses are a high priority for us,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert J. Keenan. The virtual enslavement of undocumented immigrants “is a very significant problem,” he said.

James Riddet, an attorney for Ibrahim, said the indictment was “totally without merit. We believe we will be able to present very strong and compelling evidence that these allegations are not true.”

Married at the time of the alleged crime, Ibrahim and Motelib have since divorced. Each is free on $50,000 bond.

The allegations against them surfaced three years ago with an anonymous call to authorities expressing concern for the girl, Keenan said. Investigators determined that the girl, whose name was not released, had been brought illegally from Egypt to the United States. The indictment alleges the couple housed her in a converted garage room of their $660,000 Irvine home “in squalid conditions” designed to “conceal her presence from immigration, school, and police officials.”

The indictment alleges Ibrahim and Motelib forced the girl “to perform domestic work ... with little or no payment for such work, by threatening her with bodily harm, by slapping her ... by threatening her that she would be arrested by the police if she left the home alone.”

The arrangement was facilitated, Keenan said, by a document signed by the girl’s impoverished parents in Egypt offering her for a “10-year sponsorship” in exchange for about $30 a month.

“It works out well for everybody except the girl,” Keenan said, adding that such arrangements are common, though illegal, in Egypt. “The parents get some money, the defendants get cheap labor, and there is no effort whatsoever to care for the girl beyond the absolute essentials.”

After Ibrahim’s arrest on suspicion of child endangerment in April 2002, the girl told detectives that she loved living in the United States and was not being forced to work as a maid, according to a police affidavit.

Investigators said they didn’t believe her.

The girl has been placed in foster care in Northern California where “she is doing very well,” Keenan said.