The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been charged in the United States for committing torture, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The indictment against Charles McArthur Emmanuel, known as Charles "Chuckie" Taylor is the first time a 12-year-old federal anti-torture law has been used, according to the report.

The law gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to hear cases involving acts of torture committed outside the United States if the offender is a U.S. national or is present in the country.

The United States is able to charge him since he is a U.S. citizen. He is alleged to have committed the offence in Liberia while his father was in power.

His father, Charles Taylor, is in The Hague, Holland, awaiting trial for war crimes in Sierra Leone.

"Chuckie," 29, was arrested in late March in Miami and has pleaded guilty to passport fraud.

He was in charge of presidential security when his father was in power in Liberia, and is accused of taking part in the torture of a victim in July 2002.

"The allegations in this case include acts of torture, such as burning flesh with a hot iron, burning flesh with scalding water, and applying electric shocks," a U.S. attorney said in a statement.

"Chuckie" faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Source: Xinhua