Walnut Creek woman charged with holding Peruvian nanny as indentured servant

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Contra Costa Times

Walnut Creek woman charged with holding Peruvian nanny as indentured servant
By Robert Salonga
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 11/19/2008 12:19:28 PM PST


WALNUT CREEK — A Walnut Creek real estate agent is scheduled to appear in federal court this afternoon to face accusations that she smuggled a Peruvian nanny into the United States and for the past two years forced her to live in indentured servitude, according to U.S. District Court documents.

Mabelle de la Rosa Dann, also known as Mabelle Crabbe, is charged with harboring an illegal alien for the purpose of private financial gain. Immigration authorities say the nanny was never paid as promised despite working around the clock for the defendant, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in June by a Special Agent Jennifer Alderete of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The affidavit says that Dann held 30-year-old Zoraida Pena-Canal in virtual captivity with threats of deportation and criminal accusations if she ever fled from the Walnut Creek apartment where they resided.

Pena-Canal came to the United States in 2006 after working as a nanny for Dann's sister in Peru, from where the defendant legally emigrated, the affidavit said. Dann worked with an acquaintance and with a woman hired specifically to navigate the U.S. visa process to get Pena-Canal a visitor visa, with the real intent of keeping her in the United States to work for Dann, according to the affidavit.

Once she was in the country, the promises Dann made to Pena-Canal dissolved. Instead of a large house, private bed and bath, Pena-Canal was relegated to sleeping on a living-room sofa and later, the living-room floor of a 900-square-foot apartment, the affidavit said. The nanny was made to work most of the day caring for Dann's three children and doing the household's cooking, cleaning and laundry, the affidavit said.

Read more: http://www.contracostatimes.com/crime/ci_11023455?nclick_check=1

[NorCalDem]

1. Not surprised.

Anytime i end up in Walnut Creek it's yuppier than the previous time.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. A 900 SF apartment in WC?

That's pretty weird by itself. The area is mostly single family houses with condos and apartments in a few areas (downtown and bordering Pleasant Hill/Concord.)

I hope they nail Crabbe to the wall. No excuse for this behavior.

[Ecumenist]

3. Gormy, I was surprised to read about the 900 sq ft apartment too

I didn't even know that the Creek had that many apartments there. The City maybe but I didn't know that the there were many places that a)fit that description, and b) apartments at all...

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Most of the apartments in WC are condos.

The exceptions are around PH (Treat Blvd area), near Ygnacio Drive, in Creekside south of downtown and Civic Drive north of downtown. Compared to most other towns in this area WC has a lot but it's really a small percent of the housing. When we moved to this area we were looking for apartments and most places were in Concord.

From the article info I'm guessing this woman lives off Ygnacio because it references a school at that end of town.

[Eyerish]

4. I remember lots of apartments in WC

when I was going to Saint Mary's...I had many friends who lived around there senior year. I remember getting lost trying to figure out which apartment complex they were in because there were so many.

[davidinalameda]

6. 3 kids in a 900 SF apartment?

I can barely stand my three cats in mine