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A lawyer representing a Calgary imam facing outstanding criminal charges in the United States says there has been a “rush to judgment” against his client that is based on stale, years old warrants.

Imam Abdi Hersy, 46, is wanted in connection to sexual assault allegations that surfaced in 2006 when he worked as a respiratory therapist at Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury, Minn.

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Hersy was accused of fondling the breasts of two female patients recovering at the hospital. He subsequently lost his licence and lost his job.

Prosecutors in Washington County charged Hersy with six counts of criminal sexual conduct. Hersy claims he was unaware of the allegations until 2009, three years after he arrived in Canada, where he sought refugee status.

Hersy claimed his life would be at risk in his home country of Somalia because of his minority status there. His claim was approved by the Refugee Board of Canada in 2008, a decision it tried to repeal five years later.