A Koran-studies volunteer at a Santa Ana mosque, who was charged last month with molesting two girls ages 6 and 9, will be charged Friday with sexually assaulting a third victim, an Orange County prosecutor said.
Ahmad Henry Osman, 52, of Tustin, is accused of molesting the two girls in their home on Feb. 25 under the pretense of religious studies, according to Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky.
Osman was arrested later that day, when one of the girls told their family what happened, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Another parent who heard about Osman’s arrest approached investigators to allege their 7-year-old daughter was molested at the Indo Chinese Islamic Center in Santa Ana, Bertagna said.
Bokosky said she plans to amend the complaint to add the third alleged victim when Osman appears in court Friday for a pretrial hearing.
As a volunteer at the Indo Chinese Islamic Center, Osman would help out with Koran studies when educational staffers were unavailable, according to Imam Abdullah Ahmed. The members of the mosque were shocked to hear of his arrest, Ahmed said.
Osman, who detectives characterized as a youth program educator, taught children mainly on weekends and evenings and was associated with the mosque for more than 20 years, Bertagna said.
Detectives interviewed 33 children who attend classes at the center to see if there were any other alleged victims, as is suspected, Bokosky said.
Anyone with information helpful to investigators was asked to call Santa Ana police investigator Rick Diaz at (714) 245-8412 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Kelly Core at (714) 347-8794.
Osman, who’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail, could face up to 50 years to life in prison if convicted as currently charged with two felony counts of performing lewd acts on a child younger than 14, with a sentence- enhancing allegation of multiple victims.
— City News Service