An Irvine man and his former wife pleaded guilty Thursday to forcing a 12-year-old illegal immigrant from Egypt to work as their domestic slave.
Under terms of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Abdel Nasser Eid Youssef Ibrahim, 45, and his former wife, Amal Ahmed Ewis-abd Motelib, 43, each face up to three years in prison.
The girl, whose name was not released, was brought to the United States in 2000. Every morning she helped the couple's youngest children get ready for school, washed clothes, cleaned the house and prepared food. Following up on an anonymous tip, police in 2002 found the girl living in squalor in a 12-by-8-foot converted area of the family's garage.
Ibrahim and Motelib, who were married at the time and have five children, had both slapped the girl at least once and told her that if police saw her outside their home alone, they would arrest her, prosecutors said.
The girl, now 16, is living with a foster family in Southern California and attending a public high school where "she is doing great," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert J. Keenan. She has received a green card granting her permanent residency.
The case shed light on a common though illegal practice in Egypt in which children from poor families are sent to work for the well-to-do. The servants, known as \o7Khadamah\f7, usually range in age from 9 to 18 and often are forced to sleep in kitchens.
Two of the girl's older sisters had worked in Ibrahim's home in Egypt before he moved to Irvine in 2000. Ibrahim caught one of the sisters stealing, prosecutors said. He threatened to have her charged with theft unless the girl's impoverished parents sent their 10-year-old daughter to work as his family maid in the United States. The girl's parents signed a document offering her for a "10-year sponsorship" with the family in exchange for about $30 a month, Keenan said.
"It works out well for everyone except the girl. Her parents are happy, the defendants are happy, and she has 10 years of her life flushed away," Keenan said.
The girl came to the U.S. on a visitor's visa that expired six months after she came to Irvine.
At Thursday's hearing in Santa Ana, Ibrahim wore a gray suit and a somber expression. Motelib wore a white head scarf, a pink blouse, white high heels and a black skirt that touched the ground.
The 2 1/2-hour hearing before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna was touched with drama when it appeared that the plea agreements were about to unravel.
