An Islamic Studies teacher has been convicted of sexually assaulting two girls and a boy in Birmingham, England.
37-year-old Mohammed Noor was supposed to be teaching his young wards how to pray at their homes, but abused his position to touch them sexually and administer beatings “with implements that [he] had constructed”, according to prosecutors.
“Noor is a teacher of Islamic studies and in the process of teaching [his victims] he touched the two female victims on the breasts and over their clothing while he was teaching them to pray,” recalled prosecutor Grace Ong in comments reported by BirminghamLive.
“One of the features of this case was that the children were beaten with implements that Noor had constructed and they described being beaten about their bodies,” Ong added, with BirminghamLive noting that the male victim, the brother of one of the girl victims, was smacked on his bare behind and touched “in an intimate way”.
“You armed yourself with weapons and used them to beat the children,” observed the judge, Recorder Martin Hurst, noting that it was “an aggravating feature that [the abuse] took place in their homes or the homes of relatives, in private” and sentencing Noor to nine years for eight counts of sexual assault — although it is extremely unlikely that he will serve all of this time behind bars, as criminals in Britain sentenced to non-“life” sentences are typically released on licence halfway or, more rarely, two-thirds of the way through their terms, often automatically.
“Never in my life have I felt so vulnerable,” said one of Noor’s female victims.
“I feel I was targeted for his own pleasure,” she said, lamenting that “I was in my own family surroundings a place where I should have felt safe and protected. This lasted for years and it kept coming back to me. It was extremely painful to bring up all those memories.
“It made me feel helpless, like a fish caught in a net.
“Although there were no physical injuries I have been scarred for life by this ordeal.”
The victim also noted that “Sexual crimes are not ordinarily talked about within my community against children and no one really understands the impact it has on a person from a man with such authority and such high regard.”
Indeed, the judge noted that after Noor was reported, the police found themselves unable to find him, despite him being a well-known figure in the area, alleging there had been a “conspiracy of silence” to keep him out of the authorities’ hands.
Ultimately he handed himself in, after the police issued a public press release begging for information about his whereabouts.