Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Religion, sex and crime: a Friday round-up

Religion, sex and crime: a Friday round-up

Last updated on: November 5, 2021 at 5:18 pm by Barry Duke

Religion, sex and crime: a Friday round-up 2021-11-05T17:18:32+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image via Bend County Sheriff’s Office

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.

Image via YouTube

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.

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Previous Post

November 4, 2021

LGBT centre attack: Knife-wielding Bulgarian politician arrested

Next Post

November 6, 2021 Rabbi suggests attacks on 'provocative' women are justified

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Stephen Paul John Peter

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »