Police officers raided a foundation in Botoșani, Romania. Several children were exploited through labor, made to kneel for hours on end, and forced to participate in religious activities.
At least five minors were exploited in this way, also being beaten, in the past two years.
The victims were forced to unload trucks with goods, as well as perform various tasks in the households of foundation members.
Two individuals have been detained, while three others have been placed under judicial control.
The investigation targets child trafficking, mistreatment of minors, and subjecting them to forced or compulsory labor, hindering the exercise of religious freedom.
"Between 2022 – 2024, one of the individuals, an administrator of a foundation in the city of Botoșani, allegedly recruited minors, beneficiaries of protective measures, whom they would have housed in a residential center belonging to the foundation, for the purpose of labor exploitation, as well as for obtaining and using donations (primarily from abroad) consisting of money and goods," the Police stated in a press release sent on Monday.
The foundation's administrator, as well as employees, are being investigated for "repeated physical and psychological assaults, forced labor exploitation, forcing minors to kneel for five to eight hours, thus seriously endangering their physical, intellectual, and moral development."
"At the same time, the investigated individual, using the authority they had over the victims (institutionalized within the foundation), allegedly forced them to participate, several times a week, in the religious services of the church cult to which they belong and to perform certain religious acts related to the exercise of this cult.
If the minors refused, they were subjected to physical and psychological abuse," investigators detailed.
In addition, the two individuals currently detained in the investigation allegedly transported the minors to various locations in Botoșani County and, through abuse of authority, forced them to perform challenging tasks for the benefit of the foundation's administrator and their family.
The minors were forced to perform activities such as:
- manipulating forklifts to unload trucks with goods,
- dismantling a roof,
- lifting and transporting construction materials used in building an edifice,
- renovating a church roof,
- animal care activities,
- pavement installation