Son of Guinea’s first president charged with imposing forced labour on child in Texas

Mohamed Toure, the son of Guinea’s first President, Ahmed Sekou Toure, and his wife may face up to 20 years in prison if they are tried and convicted after being charged with imposing forced labour on a child for about 16 years.

Toure and his wife, Denise Cros-Toure, both 57, allegedly brought the victim from Guinea to Texas in 2000, when she was only 5 years old.

They then forced the girl, who has not been named, to work in their home without pay for long hours, cleaning, doing laundry, cooking and caring for their children, the Department of Justice said in a press release cited by CNN.

“Although the victim was close in age to the children, the defendants denied her access to schooling and the other opportunities afforded to their children,” the department added.

The couple, according to the Justice Department, also took away the girl’s passport and physically abused her, while denying her contact with her family in Guinea.

The girl, however, managed to flee the home in Southlake in 2016 with the help of neighbours when she was 21.

The accused couple come from Guinea, where Mohamed Toure is a prominent figure due to his father, Ahmed Sekou Toure.

He was a leader of the political opposition party in Guinea, but has no diplomatic immunity or status, according to sources available to CNN.

Toure and his wife are yet to enter a plea on the matter.