Santa Ana Police Department
SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) are seeking the public’s help in identifying potential additional victims of a former church pastor charged with molesting two girls under the age of 14. Ahmad Henry Osman, 52, Tustin, is charged with two felony counts of performing lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 with a sentencing enhancement allegation for multiple victims. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison as well as mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. He is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing tomorrow, March 27, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Osman is accused of violating his position of trust as a pastor at The Indo Chinese Islamic Center (IIC) in Santa Ana. The defendant is accused of teaching bible classes at IIC and befriending the victims and their family members.
On or about Feb. 25, 2015, Osman is accused of entering a home where both victims were staying, under the guise of performing a daily prayer. He is accused of luring 9-year-old Jane Doe 1 into the room in which he was praying and performing lewd acts upon her.
On the same day, but at a later time, the defendant is accused of performing lewd acts upon 6-year-old Jane Doe 2, who is a relative of Jane Doe 1.
Jane Doe 1 reported the crime to a family member and SAPD, who investigated this case, arrested the defendant the next day on Feb. 26, 2015.
The investigation in this case is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact SAPD Investigator Rick Diaz at (714)-245-8412 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Kelly Core at (714)-347-8794.
Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
Contact:
Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, Public Information Officer
Santa Ana Police Department
Office: 714-245-8029
Cell: 714-709-2043
Roxi Fyad, Spokesperson
Orange County District Attorney
Office: 714-347-8405
Cell: 714-323-4486
Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff
Orange County District Attorney
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718
This story is a bit confusing. It says he’s a former pastor, a term typically used for Christian clergy members. It also states he was teaching the Bible (Note that it’s supposed to be capitalized, which it’s not in this article). Then it says he was working at an Islamic Center. Muslims study the Q’uran or Koran, very rarely the Bible. So is this man a Christian pastor or an Islamic iman or other type of IsIamic cleric?
It’s a sloppy press release from the SAPD.
It’s Qur’an, not q’uran or Koran, and it’s Imam and not iman.