ILLINOIS
Alj Jazeera America
Former employee of school founded by Mohammad Abdullah Saleem details alleged abuse to Al Jazeera America
February 19, 2015
Following the arrest earlier this week of a prominent Illinois imam accused of sexual abuse, one of his alleged victims is speaking out about the ordeal she says was suffered at the hands of Mohammad Abdullah Saleem.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, the alleged victim told of how she was at first honored to meet the respected imam, but ended up “terrified” to be in his presence.
Saleem, 75, founder of a school called Institute of Islamic Education in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, was charged Tuesday with felony criminal sexual abuse. Saleem’s attorney Thomas Glasgow has said that his client “categorically denies” the allegations.
Prosecutors allege that Saleem abused a young woman in her 20s in a series of escalating incidents that took place in the months after she began working as an administrative assistant the school in September of 2013. A civil lawsuit has also been filed, accusing the imam of abusing three others — all minors — alongside the administrative assistant.
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