ROYAL OAK (MI)
Royal Oak Tribune
August 23, 2019
By Aileen Wingblad
A deacon from Sterling Heights on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage altar boy at a Troy church in 2017 was accused of inappropriate touching of a young girl months before the boy came forward with allegations, according to testimony heard Friday in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Hurmiz Ishak, 66, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct involving the boy, who was between the ages of 13 and 16 at the time of the alleged incidents. And while Ishak was suspended from his duties at St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church after the allegations were made in October 2018, one of several of the church’s leaders who’ve testified so far said that it wasn’t the first time Ishak was ordered to stay away from the church due to alleged misconduct.
Earlier in 2018, a young female altar server had reported to a church leader that Ishak had touched her inappropriately, according to one of the church’s priests — who said she was somewhere between 12 and 15 years old at the time.
Assistant prosecutor makes his opening statement, telling jurors Hurmiz Ishak is “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
None of the witnesses called to the stand are being identified, as ordered by Judge Phyllis McMillen, who is overseeing the trial. The Oakland Press isn’t naming the alleged victim either, due to the nature of the alleged crimes.
Ishak’s young female accuser, the priest testified, told him about “inappropriate touching” by the deacon, which was promptly reported to police and Children’s Protective Services, he said. No charges were filed, but the allegations did lead to Ishak’s first suspension from his deacon duties. He was allowed to return to the church a couple months later.
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