Miami ? The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty Monday to a new U.S. indictment charging him with being involved in brutal killings and torture in the West African nation from 1999 to 2002.

Some of the seven victims described in the indictment were allegedly tortured with molten plastic, hot irons, scalding water and electric shocks. At least one was forced naked into a pit while members of Charles McArthur Emmanuel’s elite Antiterrorist Unit allegedly “shoveled stinging ants” on top of him, the indictment said.

Emmanuel, 30, a Boston-born U.S. citizen, commanded the ATU during his father’s regime. The goal of the unit, also known as the “Demon Forces,” was to “intimidate, neutralize, punish, weaken, and eliminate actual and perceived opponents of and threats to” the government, the indictment says.

He pleaded not guilty at a brief hearing Monday. Trial is scheduled for January.

Emmanuel, also known as Chuckie Taylor, was born to an ex-girlfriend of Taylor’s.