Beatriz Odalis Brancho Gonzalez faces SA court accused of keeping Venezuelan youth group enslaved in debt bondage for eight years
The identity of a foreign woman accused of keeping a youth group in debt bondage for almost a decade can be revealed for the first time.
Police & Courts
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A woman accused of helping to enslave a Venezuelan youth group in Adelaide’s western suburbs for eight years says she has yet to see the evidence levelled against her.
Beatriz Odalis Brancho Gonzalez, 35, of Colombia, faced the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday for the first time since being released on bail.
She has yet to plead to two counts of causing a person to remain in servitude.
Ms Brancho Gonzalez is further charged with two aggravated counts each of deceptive recruiting for labour or services, and causing a person to enter or remain in servitude.
Court documents allege the offences were committed between February 1, 2016 and May 31, 2024.
The offences are said to be aggravated because, court documents allege, she “subjected the victims to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.
Ms Branco Gonzalez was arrested in December at the same home occupied by Cristhian David Diaz Suarez, who was arrested a month earlier.
Mr Suarez has yet to plead to one aggravated count of causing debt bondage, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
He is further charged with one aggravated count of causing a person to remain in servitude, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Prosecutors allege Mr Suarez took control of the passports and lives of a Venezuelan youth group, which he had helped found, upon its arrival in Australia.
They allege he subjected the youths to persistent and severe control, abuse and servitude, tracked their movements, restricted their daily activities and enforced unreasonable debts.
They further allege he subjected them to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, including locking them in cupboards for days, and cut them off from friends and family overseas.
On Wednesday, prosecutors told the court they intended to merge Ms Brancho Gonzalez’s case with that of Mr Suarez, as the allegations span the same period.
Counsel for Ms Brancho Gonzalez said they were concerned, given the allegations dated back nine years, they had yet to be given a copy of the prosecution’s evidence.
Magistrate Brian Nitschke urged prosecutors to file their preliminary brief as soon as possible, and remanded Ms Brancho Gonzalez on continuing bail.
She will next face court, alongside Mr Suarez, in June when their cases will be formally merged.
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