Guatemala City, Guatemala: Mother Sentenced for Selling Daughters into Prostitution

On July 30, 2013 RPP Noticias reported the sentencing of a Guatemalan woman accused of selling her two young daughters for sexual and labor exploitation. According to investigation by the prosecution, Yolanda Alonso Ramos, a mother of five children, had sold her 12- and 13-year-old daughters for an unspecified sum. The 13-year-old was “bought” by an agent of the National Civil Police, Marvis Florián Lemus, who for more than a year held the girl captive and sexually abused her. In November 2011, the girl escaped and in April of last year Lemus was sentenced to 61 years in prison for kidnap and rape.

Months later, authorities rescued the other daughter, who had been “sold” to a family that forced her into domestic labor and sexual abused her. The prosecution requests the mother be tried for trafficking and child abuse. Read Article