Domingo Francisco-Juan, Lorenza Domingo-Castaneda, Catarina Domingo-Juan, Human Trafficking, Illinois 2021

Family of Three Charged with Coercing Minors in Illinois

A disturbing case of human trafficking has come to light in Illinois, with three siblings facing charges of kidnapping, forced labor, and conspiracy. Domingo Francisco-Juan, Lorenza Domingo-Castaneda, and Catarina Domingo-Juan, all Guatemalan nationals, were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Central District of Illinois on nine counts of conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and kidnapping.

According to the allegations, between December 2015 and March 2021, the defendants conspired to bring two minor victims from Guatemala to the United States to work in Domingo-Castaneda’s and Domingo-Juan’s homes. The victims were forced to provide childcare, cooking, and cleaning within the homes and to work outside the homes in local hotels, factories, and a restaurant.

The defendants allegedly used false promises of a better life and an education to gain the permission of the victims’ mothers for their minor daughters to be brought to the United States to live with the defendants. Additionally, defendants Domingo-Castaneda and Domingo-Juan forced a third victim to work in their homes and outside their homes at local businesses.

The indictment further alleges that the defendants isolated the victims in their homes, restricted their communications with their family in Guatemala, and subjected them to physical, verbal and psychological abuse, among other coercive means.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris of the Central District of Illinois, and Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Sean Fitzgerald of Homeland Security Investigations made the announcement.

Convictions on all charges could result in up to life in prison, as well as mandatory restitution. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of Champaign Police Department, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Freres for the Central District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Kate Alexander for the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

Anyone with information about human trafficking is encouraged to report it to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdil/pr/illinois-family-charged-kidnapping-forced-labor-and-conspiracy-coercing-two-minors-and