(AP) — Authorities say a couple trafficked a 15-year-old girl and her mother from Guam to Hawaiʻi, where they took away their passports, forced them to work and beat them. Kevin and Pomerrine Robert are charged with felony labor trafficking. The state public defender’s office represented them for a Monday court appearance and declined to comment on the allegations. Court documents say Pomerrine Robert demanded money for the girl and mother to get their passports back after they arrived in Honolulu in August. The documents say the girl told a school counselor after the couple locked her in a room for several days.

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Photo credit: State of Hawaiʻi Office of Public Defender