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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Imam of Kissimmee youth center detained by ICE following arrest

    Imam of Kissimmee youth center detained by ICE following arrest


    Helmi Motasim Agha (Osceola County Jail)

    By Gal Tziperman Lotan Orlando Sentinel contact the reporter


    Kissimmee imam detained by immigration after being charged with lewd and lascivious behavior
    Kissimmee center for Muslim youth “just trying to deal with the day to day” after director's arres

    An executive director of a Muslim youth center charged with inappropriately touching a 15-year-old girl posted bond after spending 12 days in jail, but he was immediately detained by immigration officials.

    Helmi Agha, who went by Imam Abufarah at the American Muslim Youth Leadership Council in Kissimmee, was initially charged with 12 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor. He was arrested March 11.


    Four of the counts were dismissed this week, and one count of lewd or lascivious conduct was added.


    According to court records, he posted a $24,000 bond — lowered from $300,000 — and was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, officials said.

    John Gillespie, Agha's criminal attorney, said the imam is not an American citizen. He was born in Saudi Arabia to a Palestinian family and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 15, Gillespie said.


    Gillespie referred questions about his immigration status to John Gihon, Agha's immigration lawyer, who declined to comment.


    "I am sorry, but there is no aspect of my client's case that I can discuss at this point," Gihon said in an email Thursday.


    Agha's arrest caught the eye of immigration officials, Gillespie said, though he was not charged with an immigration-related crime. Agha is being held in Florida.

    An ICE spokeswoman said she was not able to release any information about his case Friday afternoon.


    "There are many privacy issues to consider," spokeswoman Tammy Spicer said in an email.


    At Agha's bond hearing in Osceola County on March 20, "the room was packed with supporters," Gillespie said.


    While Agha has been in custody, first at the Osceola County Jail and now with ICE, his family has raised more than $20,000 for his legal fees through a crowd-funding website.


    The arrest has been difficult for Agha's wife, Gillespie said.


    "Every time she calls me, she's in tears. She's got four kids by herself. She knows her husband didn't do anything," Gillespie said.


    Agha was accused of inappropriately touching a 15-year-old girl who regularly attended programs at the center. The girl and her mother came to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office in late January and gave investigators written statements about seven alleged incidents — six of them in Agha's office and one in his home.


    Gillespie said Agha did not touch the girl.


    "He's never had an allegation like this, ever in his life," he said.


    Investigators with the Sheriff's Office are looking for other possible victims, but have not found any, sheriff's spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said.


    Agha was suspended from his role as executive director of the AMYL Council "pending the outcome of this investigation and arrest," council officials said in a statement.


    "We have full faith in our judicial process and trust that Helmi Agha will be afforded his opportunity to have his day in court," officials said.


    Imran Malik, an attorney retained by the AMYL Council, said the organization is trying to move forward.


    "Overall, there's been a sense of togetherness in this, and we're just trying to deal with the day-to-day," Malik said.


    Members of the center were confused and saddened when they first heard about the charges Agha is facing, Malik said.

    Leaders have tried to answer any questions members had and explained that they had to respect the legal process. They also encouraged their members to cooperate with the Sheriff's Office, Malik said.


    "The reaction has been one of understanding, and everybody is trying to deal with the situation. It's a moment of reflection," Malik said.


    Agha, who moved to Central Florida about four years ago after living in Buffalo, N.Y., has spent time in a maximum-security prison before, records show. In the mid-1990s, Agha was convicted of first-degree robbery and sent to the Attica Correctional Facility. He was released in 2002.



    Malik said he did not know whether AMYL board members were aware of Agha's conviction when they hired him.


    "At the time that Abufarah was with the center, he was not that individual," Malik said.


    The AMYL Council's center on U.S. Highway 192 was opened to give Muslim youth a place to be "positive and productive," Malik said.


    During his time with the organization, Agha founded an outreach program called Bridge The Gap, designed to connect the Muslim community with government and law-enforcement officials.


    Agha's next Osceola County court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 18.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...327-story.html
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  2. #2
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    Two juvenile sex offender stories of muslims in one day on Alipac. I was giving this one some slack until I read of his previous imprisonment for robbery.

    I am not prejudiced but I object to allowing a religion to come to my country that seems to encourage sexual perversion! (If that is prejudice, I'm guilty and will always be prejudiced. A sorry day in deed when government of the USA will not protect America's children. OH, we began doing that in 1986.)

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