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2 men from Indiana charged with kidnapping Buffalo teen

Mon, Nov 17th 2008 12:00 am
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - Two men subjected a 16-year-old Buffalo girl to sexual abuse, forced labor and beatings during a six-month-long ordeal that ended when she was reunited with her parents in October, federal prosecutors said.

A federal judge in Hammond remanded Yan Niang Soe, 22, and Johnathan Sullivan, 23, to temporary custody Wednesday until they could be transferred to New York, which has jurisdiction over the case. The men are charged with forced labor and trafficking with respect to forced labor, although more charges could come later.

Authorities say the two men took the victim from Buffalo to Indiana, where she was repeatedly raped by Soe and forced to cook, clean, and baby-sit Sullivan's children. The girl became pregnant by Soe in August after being raped, according to the criminal complaint, although she is no longer pregnant. Authorities did not elaborate.

Kerry Connor, with the Federal Community Defender's office, represented Soe and Sullivan Wednesday but declined to comment about the case.

Soe, who is not a U.S. citizen, waived his right to a probable-cause hearing in Indiana and elected to have his hearing in the Western District of New York, said Mary Hatton, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's office in northern Indiana. Sullivan had his hearing Wednesday in Hammond, and the judge found that the government met its burden to prove probable cause.

Soe met the victim, a naturalized immigrant, in 2007 and became enamored with her, according to the FBI account. Sullivan and Soe later saw her at a Buffalo park and offered to take her to a party in Fort Wayne. The girl allegedly agreed, not realizing Fort Wayne was in Indiana.

After arriving in Fort Wayne, Soe and Sullivan would not let the girl use a cell phone to contact her mother, the FBI said. The men and Sullivan's wife later moved into an apartment in Fort Wayne, then moved into an apartment in Logansport. Soe led the victim to believe that it was dangerous for her to go outside and told her that she would go to jail for being a runaway if she returned to Buffalo. The girl was locked in a room for two days without food at one point, the FBI said.

The men made her cook, clean, do laundry for Soe and take care of Sullivan's children without payment. Soe would beat her if she did not cook and clean, and forced her to have sex several times, the FBI said.

In October, the victim and Soe were living in an apartment with another man. The victim asked the man to use his cell phone and called a friend, who came and picked her up, the FBI said. The victim later contacted her mother, and was reunited with her family in Logansport on Oct. 4.