DETROIT – An African man who was convicted of forcing children to work as slaves at his Michigan home has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Tarnow also on Monday ordered Jean-Claude Toviave (TOH'-vee-ahv) to pay two of the children $60,000 each.
Four victims last fall told jurors that Toviave, a native of Togo, forced them to perform household duties for nearly five years until January 2011 at the home in Ypsilanti, near Ann Arbor.
Toviave didn't apologize when given the chance to speak on Monday. Two of the victims were in the Detroit courtroom.
The four children emigrated from Togo in 2006 with fraudulent papers. They said Toviave beat them if they didn't follow his orders. One says he prayed for freedom or death.
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