Family: Unjustly Held American Was Raped in Chinese Prison

Dawn Michelle Hunt thought she'd won a free trip from Chicago to Australia in 2014. Instead, the US woman landed in a Chinese prison for life, narrowly escaping execution. As the New York Times reports, the trip she thought she'd won was part of a drug trafficking scheme. With a stopover in China, Hunt was given handbags later found to have 4.5 pounds of meth stashed in the linings, according to Chinese police. A judge acknowledged the scam but decided Hunt should've known what was happening. With an initial death sentence later commuted to life in prison, she's now spent a decade behind bars and her family, pleading with the US government, says it's past time for her to return home.

A Black woman, she's been raped by prison guards and mistreated due to her race, family claim, per the Times. Hunt's father, Gene, says he's long kept quiet about the case for fear his daughter would face further punishment in China. He says he's now speaking out because Hunt's health is in decline. Prison doctors told Hunt, 53, that she may need surgery to address tumors in her uterus and ovaries, but Hunt has refused treatment out of a lack of trust in prison officials, her family says.

Hunt's brother, Tim, visited her in Guangzhou in June and says a prison staffer hovered, taking notes, as his sister appeared withdrawn. He'll speak about his experience at a gathering of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which monitors human rights in the country, next week, per the Times. The State Department hasn't determined Hunt to be wrongful detained and her family hasn't pushed for the designation, which prompts the US government to "work tirelessly toward" securing a prisoner's release. A rep for the State Department says Hunt receives regular visits from consular officers, most recently in July. (More China stories.)