UK Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan Found Guilty of Sex Assault on Boy

Imran Ahmad Khan, a Conservative member of parliament elected in 2019 has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 2008.

A British court found Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008 on Monday afternoon. During the week-long trial, the court heard that Khan has given the teenage boy gin during a party, took him upstairs at the address, showed him pornography, and then physically assaulted him in a bunk bed, “reaching for, or actually touching, his groin”, the BBC reports.

As previously reported, the court was told the 15-year-old heard Khan’s “breathing was getting quite heavy” as he sexually assaulted him. Police were called at the time but the victim did not press charges, The Guardian reports of the case. The events later came to light again when the victim discovered Khan was standing for election in 2019.

Sentencing will follow the guilty verdict and Khan faced potential jail time. If he received more than 12 months behind bars, he would be automatically banned from sitting in Parliament. There is also an option for people living in the area he represents to launch a recall petition. Khan could also choose to resign his position, but his stated intention to challenge the conviction suggests he stands by his original stated position strongly denying the charges.

A profile of Imran Ahmad Khan in The Guardian notes Khan’s brother is a former prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and that Khan himself had built something of a reputation for himself during his so-far brief time in Parliament for being a bit of an “oddball” showman. Evidence of this presented by the paper includes Khan’s penchant for smart suits, him driving a Rolls Royce motorcar to Parliament, and even his undertaking a skydive into his constituency as a publicity stunt during the 2019 election campaign.

The Guardian also notes that while Khan was once billed as Britain’s first openly gay Muslim member of parliament, he has gone to lengths in the past to hide his sexuality. Before the trial, Khan had argued unsuccessfully that being outed as an alcohol drinking gay man of the Muslim faith would put his life at risk.
The Labour Party called for Khan to resign immediately after the verdict was reached on Monday. He was suspended from the Conservative Party on Monday evening.