Jury convicts Virginia family of forced labor conspiracy

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal jury convicted on Friday three members of a Virginia family of conspiring to coerce another family member to perform domestic services by verbally assaulting and physically abusing the victim over 12 years, according to a federal prosecutor. Zahida...

California couple gets federal prison in forced labor case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California couple was sentenced Monday to several years each in federal prison for conspiring to force a Guatemalan relative and her two daughters to perform long hours of physically demanding work every day of the week for little or no pay. ...

Report: Fake Twitter accounts spread Chinese propaganda

BEIJING (AP) — A U.S.-based intelligence company says it uncovered a network of more than 600 inauthentic Twitter accounts that spread a positive narrative of China's far-western Xinjiang region, as Beijing was being accused of human rights abuses and locking up hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs...

Editorial Roundup: Georgia

Valdosta Daily Times. April 6, 2022. Editorial: Cloak and dagger lawmaking bad for Georgia Lack of transparency disservice to everyone Making laws should not be a game of hide and seek. Legislation should be an open, deliberative...

Dad who lived in dorm convicted of abusing daughter's pals

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who moved into his daughter's college dorm and charmed her schoolmates with claims of influence and wisdom was convicted Wednesday of charges that he exploited the close-knit group, using threats and violence to enrich himself with millions of dollars as he ruined their...

Man accused of exploiting daughter's Sarah Lawrence classmates convicted on sex abuse, forced labor charges

Jury deliberations begin in sex abuse, forced labor trial

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of Lawrence Ray, an ex-convict accused of moving into his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence College and manipulating her friends into a cult-like devotion to get free labor and millions of dollars. Federal prosecutors...

3 men sentenced in Georgia forced farm labor investigation

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Three men have been sentenced to federal prison as part of a broad investigation into what authorities said was a wide-ranging conspiracy to bring workers from Central America to the United States for forced labor on south Georgia farms. The three men were...

US tells China: Give UN rights chief wide access in Xinjiang

GENEVA (AP) — The United States called on China's government Wednesday to grant “unhindered and unsupervised access" to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, when she visits China and its western Xinjiang region in May. Ambassador Sheba Crocker, the U.S....

Man charged with enticing children to mutilate themselves

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Southern California man was charged with child sexual exploitation after authorities say he convinced troubled girls as young as 12 to perform masochistic acts and urged them to become his sex slaves, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Matthew Locher, 31,...