“奴隶制”听起来像是200多年前的事情。但在现代美国，还是有人非法将人奴役。

一对在美国的移民夫妇，将一位非洲女孩奴役长达16年之久...

Via TARRANT COUNTY JAIL/BBC

美国德克萨斯州一对从非洲移民到美国的夫妻，因在家中囚禁和奴役一名非洲女孩长达16年，被判入狱七年。

这个黑暗的故事立刻引起美国主流媒体的关注。

Via CNN；一对德克萨斯州夫妇被判入狱7年，因逼迫一名年轻女孩在家干活长达16年

Via nytimes.com；德克萨斯州夫妇被判入狱七年，因奴役一名几内亚女孩长达16年

这名犯罪的男性还大有来头。他是几内亚第一任总统艾哈迈德⋅塞古⋅杜尔（Ahmed S�kou Tour�）的儿子。

Via 网络

这对夫妇究竟如何奴役这名女孩？他们在美国又将面临怎样的法律制裁？我们来看一下。

When she arrived in the US, the West African girl was just five years old, but she soon was responsible for caring for a Texas couple's children, cooking, cleaning andmowing the lawn. She was abused and neglected for 16 years -- until she escaped, according toa criminal complaintagainst the couple.

根据刑事诉状上的内容，这名西非女孩刚到美国的时候才5岁；但她很快就负责照顾这对夫妇的小孩，为他们家做饭打扫，修剪草坪。她被这对夫妻忽视和折磨长达16年才逃脱出来。

The pair has now been sentenced to seven years each in prison and nearly $300,000in restitution, according to a news release from the Justice Department.

根据司法部门周一（当地时间）的新闻通告，这对夫妇被判监禁七年，并要赔偿近30万美元。

Via justice.gov；该判决的新闻通告

Mohamed Toure, 58, and Denise Cros-Toure, 58,were convictedin January of forced labor, conspiracy to harbor an alien and alien harboring.

58岁的犯罪男性Mohamed Toure和他58岁的妻子Denise Cros-Toure于今年1月份被判有罪，罪名包括奴役和窝藏非法移民。

They both are citizens of Guinea -- where the young girl was taken from -- andlawful permanent residentsof the US, but may lose their US immigration status and be deported to Guinea.

这对夫妇是几内亚人（这个小女孩也是从几内亚带来的），且是美国的合法永久居民。但该事件后，他们或将不再拥有美国移民身份，可能会被遣返回几内亚。

Via CNN

对于这个判决，美国网友是什么反应？欣然接受？不存在的！

大多数网友的呼声是：7年判得也太少了！

Via Twitter

"只有七年？至少得判个16年吧？得跟他们从这个可怜的女孩身上剥夺的时间差不多长。”

Via Twitter

"我去！他们折磨了这个孩子16年，但现在这个女孩看着这对夫妻只用在监狱里待几年就被放出来了？还有没有理了？”

也有网友祝福这位不容易的女孩，希望她接下来能开始新的人生。

Via Twitter

“感谢上帝。这位年轻的女性很勇敢。我希望她在美国开始新生活。那对坏透了的夫妻坐完牢后哪儿来的就赶紧滚回哪儿去吧。”

但把这个女孩推上“奴隶”之路的并不只是这对几内亚夫妇，还有女孩的父亲。

从某种程度上说，这个女孩的命运和当地很多类似背景的女孩，差不多。

Investigatorsclaim the young girl initially lived in a one-room,mud hutwith her family in Guinea.She was still young when her father, who worked as a farmer, urged her to go into the city to work. She soon began working for Cros-Toure's family in Guinea.

调查人员说，这位女孩一开始在几内亚跟家人住在一个毛土屋里，只有一个房间。她做农民的爸爸在她很小的时候，就逼她去城镇里工作。不久后，她就到女罪犯在几内亚的家中干活了。

In January 2000, the young girl was flown to the Toure residence in Southlake, where her first job was to care for the couple's youngest son, who was about two years old at the time. She did not speak English when she arrived and was not enrolled in school.

在2000年1月份，这个小女孩被带到美国德克萨斯州的南湖，在这对罪犯夫妇的宅邸工作。她的第一份工作是照顾这对夫妇的小儿子。他们的小儿子当时大约2岁。小女孩刚到美国时不会说英语，也没有去上学。

Via CNN

带孩子只是一个开始。真正的奴役和虐待，还在后面...

The child's workload eventually increased to include cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, mowing the lawn and gardening. Her day began around 7 a.m., and continued until they went to sleep at night.

这个孩子的工作量最终增加到帮这对夫妇做饭、打扫家里、洗衣服、修剪草坪和照料花草。她每天早上7点就得起床，直到这对夫妻晚上睡觉了还在工作。

She didn't eat with the couple and their five children and slept on the floor, investigators said. The couple kept her at home, isolated her, forced her to do housework and care for their children with no pay and made sure she was entirely dependent on them, according to the criminal complaint.

调查人员说，这个女孩不能跟夫妇和他们的五个孩子一起吃饭；她只能睡地板。这对夫妇把这个非洲女孩关在家里，不让她与其他人接触，逼她做家务照看孩子们，还不给她任何工资。刑事诉状称，这对夫妻要确保这个女孩只能完全依赖他们。

Via CNN

但这对夫妇的辩护律师称，不给工资是因为小女孩被当成家庭成员了；家庭成员做点家务，不需要给她工资呀！

"They didn't pay her,but you don't pay family members to clean your own house," he said. "She lived there, like anyone else did." He said that the couple wanted to adopt the girl.

“他们没有付她工资。但家庭成员帮家里打扫，并不需要付工资。这个女孩住在他们家，就像其他小孩一样。”辩护律师还说，这对夫妻本来想要收养这个女孩。

Via CNN