Chuckie Taylor

Charles McArther Emmanuel (born February 12, 1978), also known as Chuckie Taylor, is an American-Liberian former soldier and war criminal. He is the son of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia.

Raised by his mother in the U.S. until he was 16, Taylor Jr. traveled to Liberia in 1994 to live with his father. During his father's presidency, he became the commander of the infamously violent Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), commonly known in Liberia as the "Demon Forces". After returning to the United States, he was arrested by the government for human rights violations committed by the ATU. He is currently serving a 97-year sentence.

Early life Born on February 12, 1978, in Boston, Emmanuel lived much of his life in Orlando, Florida, with his mother, Bernice Emmanuel, a college girlfriend of Taylor. Fearful of Taylor's attempting to claim custody of Emmanuel, his mother had his name legally changed to Roy Belfast Jr., the name of her husband. His house, in a neighborhood described as "middle class", was away from Universal Orlando Resort.

He attended Maynard Evans High School. In 1994, when he was a teenager he was involved in an altercation with deputies of Orange County, Florida. Afterward, Emmanuel moved to Liberia to live with his father, who in turn enrolled him in the Accra Academy, an elite boarding school in Ghana. Emmanuel was expelled, and according to Johnny Dwyer of The Guardian, possession of alcohol and illegal drugs was reportedly the reason.

Career Initially, Emmanuel pursued a career in the timber trade. He then established and commanded the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) to serve as his father's security force. Around the same time, he was then charged for participating in torture in Liberia. Emmanuel's trial was the first case where a U.S. citizen was prosecuted under a 1994 law that prohibits American citizens from participating in torture outside of the United States.

Elise Keppler, a counsel for the International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch, said that the "Demon Forces" "did things like beating people to death, burying them alive, rape – the most horrible kind of war crimes." In January 2009, Judge Cecilia Altonaga sentenced Taylor to 97 years in prison. He planned to appeal his conviction. According to the Department of Justice, Taylor tortured victims with various means, including "burning victims with molten plastic, lit cigarettes, scalding water, candle wax and an iron; severely beating victims with firearms; cutting and stabbing victims; and shocking victims with an electric device."

That same day, the World Organization for Human Rights USA filed a civil suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of five of Taylor Jr.'s victims pursuant to the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victims Protection Act. The plaintiffs won by a default judgment on all counts. The civil trial to determine damages took place in late December 2009 and January 2010.

, Emmanuel was incarcerated in a federal prison in Florida. As of 2019 he, under the name Roy M Belfast Jr. (Bureau of Prisons (BOP)#76556-004), is serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia. His release date is June 18, 2090.