NORMAN, Okla. – A bed-and-breakfast is being investigated after reports that a Cambodian woman employed there was being treated as an indentured servant.
NewsOK reports that a woman who was working at the inn, called Whispering Pines Inn, was allegedly being mentally abused by her employer and was forced to give up a child for adoption after becoming pregnant while working at the bed-and-breakfast.
FBI agents raided the inn last week searching for evidence of human trafficking, according to official documents.
The owners of the inn, Rany and Thavory Kchao, sponsored the woman’s immigration to the United States, as per court filings reports NewsOK. An application for a search warrant, however, claims that in exchange for the sponsored immigration, the woman signed a promissory note for $8,000 that included payment to her family and travel expenses.
The couple told the woman that after three years she could have enough to pay off the $8,000, but after working at the Whispering Pines 14 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, the woman should have received around $80,000 in wages, according to the search warrant application.
Another former employee reported the Cambodian woman’s treatment after she discovered the woman was not receiving wages and appeared to be frightened of the owners. The co-worker says that the Cambodian woman gave birth in May 2015 but was forced to give her baby up for adoption.
"[The Cambodian woman] would not discuss the baby's father's identity ... seemed upset about giving up her baby," the search warrant application claims.
NewsOK reports that the former co-worker also told authorities that the Cambodian woman was not allowed to access her immigration documents or leave the 19-acre bed-and-breakfast compound in southeast Norman.
One affidavit contained with the search warrant application showed that FBI Special Agent H. Cris Lang said Thavory Kchao's behavior toward the Cambodian woman was “emotionally cruel.”
"On at least one occasion, Thavory Kchao hit ... (the Cambodian woman) with a towel, because a guest had stolen a towel," Lang wrote as reported by NewsOK.
No criminal charges have officially been filed in the investigation; it is still ongoing.
