American Couple Held in Qatar Speak with CBS THIS MORNING

Matthew and Grace Huang, a Los Angeles-based couple who were, until recently, held in Qatar on suspicions that they starved their eight-year-old daughter to death, told CBS News that they feel the United States government 'could have done a lot more, a lot quicker' to help free them.

In their first television interview since their release, which was broadcast today, Dec. 8, 2014 on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM), the Huangs described the physical and mental anguish that they faced while held in Qatari prison.

'They thought we were human traffickers,' Matthew Huang told CBS News Correspondent Margaret Brennan. 'They said we adopted our children to either harvest their organs or to do medical tests on them.'

A transcript of the interview is below.

Matthew and Grace Huang are just beginning to piece their life back together. It started Sunday, with a rousing welcome home at their Pasadena church. They've reunited with their two sons, Emanuel and Josiah, both adopted from Africa. But the fate of their third adopted child, Gloria, is haunting them. While living in Qatar, where Matthew was working as an engineer with an American firm, their eight-year-old girl died suddenly and mysteriously.

MATTHEW HUANG: Gloria was on the floor, foaming at the mouth. So I took her immediately to the emergency room and they did about 40 minutes of CPR, and then they told me that Gloria had passed away.

Gloria had suffered severe malnourishment as a small child in Ghana and continued to have eating disorders, despite her parents' best efforts. She refused to eat for the final four days of her life. Qatari police accused Matt and Grace of starving her to death, and prosecutors were suspicious of a mixed-race family, a very uncommon sight in Qatar.

MATT HUANG: They thought we were human traffickers. They said we adopted our children to either harvest their organs or to do medical tests on them.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What did you think when you heard these things, Grace?

GRACE HUANG: For me, the hardest part, I think, was being asked over and over, 'Are you the real mom?'

The Huangs were thrown in a Qatari prison. Josiah and Emanuel were sent to an orphanage for four months.

BRENNAN: As a mother, what is it like to hear that your children are being not only taken, but put in an orphanage?

GRACE HUANG: I was angry with myself. Like, what could I have done to keep them from taking the kids away?

Prison was especially difficult for Matthew.

MATT HUANG: I was physically and sexually assaulted.

BRENNAN: What happened that day?

MATT HUANG: Another inmate tried to rape me.

BRENNAN: Did anyone protect you?

MATT HUANG: I-as a victim, I fought back.

After nearly a year behind bars, a judge granted them bail as discrepancies in the prosecution's case began to surface. A forensic pathologist hired by the family concluded that 'there is no medical evidence that Gloria's parents starved her,' and said the Qataris never performed a proper autopsy.

MATT HUANG: They didn't take any tissue samples.

GRACE HUANG: They even got her height and weight wrong on the autopsy.

While their appeal dragged on, Matthew Huang lost his job. They were banned from traveling, and the couple rarely left their home. Matthew questioned whether political interests kept American diplomats from lobbying Qatar for their release.

MATT HUANG: The U.S. government could have done a lot more, a lot quicker.

Suddenly last Sunday, a Qatari judge overturned their conviction, citing the inadequate AUTOPSY and described the Huangs as caring parents.

MATT HUANG: I'm so excited that truth prevailed.

The elated mom and dad documented the long trip home and now are trying to catch up on the life they missed.

Click here to watch the video clip.

To post a comment, you must register and login.