A Case of Minor Kidnapping and Forced Labor in Splendora Reaches Federal Court; the Two Defendants Face Possible Life Imprisonment, According to Records.
Two women from Montgomery County face federal charges for the alleged kidnapping of a minor and forced labor against a 12-year-old girl in Splendora, northeast of Houston. According to court documents, the case describes months of physical abuse, extreme control, and exploitation inside a rural home.
The formal indictment, filed by the federal prosecutor, states that the two women deprived the girl of her liberty and subjected her to a pattern of abuse and forced domestic labor for at least six months in 2025. If the jury finds them guilty of kidnapping of a minor and forced labor of a minor, each could face up to life imprisonment in federal prison.
Background of the Minor Kidnapping Case in Texas
According to the Department of Justice, based on case files, the two Montgomery County women are charged with kidnapping the girl on the grounds that they were taking her away from an alleged sexual offender. Months before the federal charges, they had already been indicted locally on child abuse and other charges in the same county.
The indictment states that the girl was taken to the suspects’ home in the Splendora area, about 40 miles from downtown Houston. According to records, authorities began assembling the federal case after a local investigation opened in 2025, when the minor managed to escape from that residence and seek help on a public street.
According to the court documents, the minor was found in September 2025 running down a Splendora street, malnourished, injured, and with a plastic restraint on her wrist. Based on her testimony and the evidence gathered, the case was handed to federal authorities, who now speak of a possible slavery and forced labor scenario against a migrant girl.
Kidnapping of a Minor and the Victim’s Background
Federal filings indicate that the girl arrived in the United States from Honduras in 2014 with her mother, who was then 16 years old. When the minor turned 4, the mother was deported and the girl was placed in the care of a great-uncle in Texas.
According to the indictment, that relative is charged with ongoing sexual abuse of the girl for approximately six years. The investigation indicates that, after the minor spoke with a relative about what was happening, arrangements were made to remove her from the school bus stop in March 2025 and take her to the home of the two women now charged with kidnapping a minor.
Harris County documents cited in the indictment indicate that, two months later, one of the women took the girl to local agents to report the prior sexual abuse. The case was also reported to Texas Child Protective Services. Subsequently, according to the federal prosecutor, the same person assured social workers that the girl had been sent back to Honduras, while allegedly beginning to hide her and exercise control over her.
In parallel, the great-uncle was detained in November 2025 in Harris County and faces a charge of ongoing sexual abuse of a minor. According to an investigator cited in the indictment, local authorities were formally notified of the complaints against him after the girl was found fleeing along the road in Splendora.
Kidnapping of a Minor, Abuse, and Forced Labor Against the Girl
The federal filing describes a series of abuses that, according to authorities, occurred inside the Montgomery County residence during several months in 2025. The girl allegedly was beaten with cables, computer charger cords, a baton, and even an ice pack. On some occasions, the documents note, she was forced to undress before the assaults.
The indictment also states that the minor slept on the living room floor, strapped to a table with plastic restraints. In the morning, after being released, she was reportedly required to perform household chores, such as general cleaning of the house, as well as feeding the livestock on the property. This pattern of imposed tasks under threat forms part of the charge of forced labor of a minor.
According to the indictment, food was withheld as punishment and, when she was allowed to eat, her diet was largely limited to a cup of instant soup. The minor would have to wear makeup to cover bruises on her face, and after a relative questioned the treatment, her head was shaved and she was instructed to present herself as a boy in front of others.
Authorities say the girl managed to escape after being tied to a folding chair inside the house. According to the documents, she was able to break the structure while the adults slept and go out to the street to seek help. The indictment describes that, when examined by medical staff, the girl presented a level of malnutrition so severe that her menstrual cycle had stopped.
Investigation, Evidence, and Federal Process in the Case of Kidnapping a Minor
According to prosecutors, the investigation into kidnapping of a minor and forced labor intensified when agents located photographs and videos documenting confinement and beatings inside the house. That material is part of the evidence the prosecution plans to present to the jury.
Records indicate that both alleged responsible parties were initially arrested in Montgomery County and faced $200,000 bonds each. Subsequently, the two were transferred to federal custody to answer for the charges of kidnapping of a minor and forced labor of a minor.
A federal magistrate judge ordered one of them held without bail while the case moves forward, finding robust evidence against her, including text messages in which, according to prosecutors, assaults against the girl are described and authorities are misled about her whereabouts. In recent days, the second woman was also placed in federal custody and scheduled for an initial hearing.
According to the information included in the indictment for kidnapping a minor and forced labor, the girl is now in the custody of child protection authorities, while the criminal process continues in the federal courts of Houston. The Splendora kidnapping case thus becomes a landmark file to measure how institutions respond to extreme cases of abuse and exploitation of girls and boys in Texas.
