'He betrayed my truest - he was a friend, like a big brother' - Agency worker at a Birmingham mosque who sexually abused boys is jailed
A former agency worker at a Birmingham mosque has been jailed for a campaign of rape and sexual abuse against boys as young as nine.
Said Daauud groomed the youngsters bu buying them sweets, AirPods, computer games and mobile phones to win over their trust.
In all, he abused five boys – the oldest was just 14-years-old.
Daauud was an agency IT support worker at the mosque, which cannot be named for legal reasons, but stopped working there in February 2022.
He continued to attend the mosque and was well known to the congregation.
A police investigation began in May 2022 when the mothers of two of the children revealed Daauud had been grooming their children. He had stayed overnight at one of the boys’ houses and touched them inappropriately.
He used WhatsApp and Snapchat to groom one of the boys and asked for him to send indecent images of himself. Well over 4,000 messages were sent, where he tried to normalise his behaviour and encouraged them to tell him that they love him.
Specially trained officers took statements from the young boys and CCTV from the mosque captured some of his inappropriate physical contact with them.
Police charged him with one rape, nine sexual assaults and four other officers of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
One boy told police: “Said has betrayed my trust. He was a friend, like a big brother.. I now struggle to trust adults, because he was someone who I trusted as a true friend.
“This whole situation has made me feel overwhelmed and I just want things to go back to normal.”
Another said: “Although I knew it was really wrong, I still tried to see the positives in Said. However, as the months have passed I have more of an understanding of how Said had manipulated me and taken advantage of me and my body.
“I feel so betrayed by him, I can’t even begin to describe this.”
After a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, he was found guilty of all charges.
Appearing on Friday February at the same court he was jailed for 16 years, and ordered to remain on licence for a further five years after that period.
Daauud was also ordered to abide by a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely and indefinite restraining orders against each of the children he attacked.
DS Thomas Finney, from West Midlands Police's public protection unit’s child abuse team, said: “Daauud has showed no remorse throughout this and has taken the case to trial, which meant that these children had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence and being cross examined.
"We have made sure they’ve been supported through the process. He’s used his position within the community to build up a real level of trust with families, who were happy to let him stay the night and care for their children.
“He abused that trust in the most appalling way, with a series of appalling sexual attacks on really young members of the community.
“It was only when one of the boys revealed what was happening to his family that the alarm was raised and the full extent of what was happening came to light.
“We worked closely with the management at the mosque, who were supportive of the police investigation. They provided us with CCTV footage, statements and details of the children involved to get us to these convictions.
“I’d like to thank each of the boys and their families for their bravery and support in helping us put this dangerous sexual predator behind bars."
