Religion, Sex And Crime: A Friday Round-up

FIRST off, from Texas comes news that Koran teacher Mohammed Omar Ali, above – found guilty of sexually assaulting three of his students – has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Ali, a 61-year-old religious leader in the close-knit Muslim Somali community, was found guilty at the end of October of aggravated sexual assaut of a child and two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

At the time of his arrest in January of 2020, all three victims were children under the age of 14. Ali is a Somalian national who was living in the US illegally, said Troy Nehls, who was the sheriff of Fort Bend County at the time of Ali’s arrest.

According to Sgt. Michael Alexander of the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Ali gained access to his alleged victims by gaining the trust of the victim’s families, who invited him into their homes to teach the Koran to their children.

Shariq Abdul Ghani, Director of the Minaret Foundation and representative of the Muslim community, added that Ali was not an employee or official volunteer of any particular mosque, but he traveled to different mosques and schools in the area, establishing himself as a de facto religious leader.

He has a very fluent understanding of the Koran, and he’s fluent in Arabic, which makes him an ideal teacher.

After hearing testimony from a fourth child victim, Fort Bend County Judge Tameika Carter sentenced Ali to 35 years for the offense of aggravated sexual assault and ten years for each charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact. The sentences will run concurrently.

Lead prosector Charann Thompson praised the child who came forward with the first allegations against Ali.

In this case, the bravery of one child coming forward had the domino effect of inspiring other children to do the same. Because of the children’s bravery, Mohammed Omar Ali was brought to justice and was held accountable for his horrible behaviour.

Meanwhile, Christianity Daily reports that Virginian megachurch pastor John Blanchard, above, was among 17 individuals who were arrested following a two-day sting operation carried out by the Chesterfield County Police Department.

Over the course of two days, detectives “intercepted suspects who believed they were soliciting sex from minors through online and social media platforms, the Chesterfield County police department explained

Now, Blanchard faces charges of felony solicitation of prostitution and use of a vehicle to promote prostitution.

Blanchard served as senior pastor of Rock Church International since 2013 alongside his wife, Robin. The church described Blanchard on its website as:

Coming from a background in atheism and a dysfunctional childhood.

Two days ago it was reported that Blanchard had resigned from the church.

This is not the first time this year a pastor was involved in soliciting sex from minors. In July, it was reported that Matthew Brewer, a youth pastor and chaplain with the Tennessee National Guard, who was described as a “trusted figure” by investigator Lieutenant Justin Whitwell, was arrested for solicitation of a minor.

Brewer was a 47-year-old minister of students and was a Fairfield Baptist Church youth pastor. He was among 17 others who were caught by Tennessee authorities intentionally seeking out sexual activity with a 16-year-old girl.

Former monk jailed for sexual abuse and child cruelty

Finally, the BBC reports that former Catholic monk, Michael Murphy, 88, has been jailed for seven years for abusing children over decades at two residential schools.
He is already serving a seven-year jail sentence from 2016 for 15 crimes of assault and indecent assault against young boys.

Known as “Brother Benedict”, he was convicted of a further 29 offences against boys. They took place at St Ninian’s List D School, at Gartmore, in Stirlingshire, and St Joseph’s in East Lothian. The court heard his offending began in 1961 and continued until 1981.

Twenty boys, some as young as seven and eight, were subjected to abuse.

Murphy beat and administered electric shocks to many of the children, while others were subjected to sex attacks.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told Murphy’s latest convictions included punching and kicking children, striking one boy with nettles, forcing a boy to put a bar of soap in his mouth and force-feeding another at St Ninian’s until he was sick.

Judge Lady Carmichael said:

A number of them described enduring psychological harm from their time as pupils, to which your behaviour contributed.

One man, who arrived at St Ninian’s as a child told the court that it looked like Gordonstoun, the independent school attended by Prince Charles.

But he added:

It was like Gordonstoun, but run by Nazis.

Another victim, who got sent to St Ninian’s before his ninth birthday, told police that he was regularly subjected to beatings by the monk.

Brother Benedict was way over the top with the force he used. He was an animal. He beat me in excess of 100 times in the 32 months I was there and that’s being conservative.

The court was told five of the crimes, involving three boys, were committed at St Joseph’s, and the remainder occurred at St Ninian’s.

Defence counsel Mark Moir QC said Murphy continued to deny his guilt.

Murphy will serve his latest sentence from the expiry of his present jail sentence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.