The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an Islamic religious leader for alleged sex crimes against children. Mohamed Omar Ali, age 59, was charged with one count of sexual assault of a child and three counts of sexual indecency of a child following his arrest on Jan. 3.

At a press conference Monday morning, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls stated that all four victims were children under the age of 14. Ali is a Somalian national who was living in the U.S. illegally. According to Nehls, bail for Ali was set at $125,000, but due to his illegal status, Immigration and Customs Enforcement put a detainer on Ali, and Ali is being held at the Fort Bend County jail.

According to Detective Michael Alexander of the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Ali gained access to his alleged victims by gaining the trust of the victim’s families, who invited him into their homes to teach the Quran to their children.

Shariq Abdul Ghani, Director of the Minaret Foundation and representative of the Muslim community, added that Ali was not an employee or official volunteer of any particular mosque, but he traveled to different mosques and schools in the area, establishing himself as a defacto religious leader. “He has a very fluent understanding of the Quran, and he’s fluent in Arabic, which makes him an ideal teacher,” he said.

Surveillance of Ali began in September of 2019, after victims reported the abuse to the FBI, but investigators believe the alleged crimes date back to 2013. Investigators believe there are many more victims that have not come forward, and the sheriff’s office urges those victims to come forward.

The focus now, according to Nehls, is finding these potential victims, which can be a challenge due to some of the nuances of Muslim belief regarding sexual assault. Said Nehls, “You will hear that if a child in the Muslim community is assaulted in any way sexually, that child may be considered unclean, and will that child be able to get married in the future?”

Alexander stated that the stigma has already made the investigation difficult, and his office has not been able to move the investigation as quickly because of it.

Nehls added, “Put your religious affiliation away, folks, and do what's in the best interest of your child, and reach out to us.”

Ghani is working with the sheriff’s office to ensure the Muslim community’s full cooperation with law enforcement. Ghani is working to make sure the community knows that it is safe to speak with the authorities. Ghani also hopes that destigmatizing sexual assault within the community will encourage more victims to come forward. “In every culture, there’s a different definition of survivor’s trauma, and some people who are ashamed to come forward may be from a culture that has this idea of how society might treat them,” Ghani explained. “The most important thing now is to help identify a victim and connect them with law enforcement.”

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who is a potential victim to contact Sgt. Jonathan Howell at (281) 341-4797. Nehls emphasized that all victims will remain anonymous with their identities protected. “They can come in with total confidence and talk to us, and we will not release their identity in any way,” he said.

claire.goodman@chron.com