Press Release 5/27/2022
For Immediate Distribution
FACE DENOUNCES MISHANDLING OF CHILD MOLESTATION CASE IN DENTON COUNTY RESULTING IN VICTIM RE-TRAUMATIZATION
Denton, Texas, USA (May 26, 2022) - Facing Abuse in Community Environments (FACE), an organization founded in 2017 to address allegations of abuse at the hands of religious and community leaders, calls on the Denton County District Attorney’s Office, Police Department, the Denton County 16th District, and the defendant’s attorney, to redress their inadequate handling of the plea hearing for Muneeb-ur-Rehman Ahmad earlier today as well as last month.
Ahmad stands accused of the molestation of a child under his care while serving as a youth leader for a local faith-based organization. Last month, during the first scheduled plea hearing, Ahmad was expected to plead guilty to the molestation charge and be remanded into police custody for 8 years, in addition to being listed as a registered sex offender. Prior to the first hearing in April, Ahmad’s victim and his father had prepared victim impact statements and anxiously awaited their opportunity to confront the accused who the victim described as “the man who stole my childhood”. Instead he was blindsided by the revelation that neither the DA’s office, represented by Michael Dickens Felony Prosecutor for the 16th District, nor the defendant’s attorney, Amy Browning representing Dunham & Jones, seemed to realize that Ahmad was a Canadian citizen and not an American citizen despite the victim sharing this information previously. This willful oversight resulted in a month’s delay to allow Ahmad to consult an immigration attorney prior to agreeing to his plea deal forcing the victim and their family to cope with the high probability the defendant will flee the country. One family member pleaded with the DA’s office to have the bail revoked because of this but she was completely dismissed and shown no regard for the concerns.
This past Wednesday, May 25, 2022, once again, the victim and his father prepared themselves to address the court and the Defendant, which is no light matter in these cases, with family and friends again traveling in from all over DFW and the U.S. to wait patiently for the hearing to begin. However, after over an hour later than the scheduled start time, nobody knew where the defendant was, including his own attorney.
When Judge Sherry Shipman, of the Denton County 16th District Court, was presented with this news of the defendants unknown whereabouts, she rolled her eyes and said she would issue a bench warrant for his arrest but given the fact he is a Canadian citizen “it may already be too late” insinuating that he may have used the previous month’s delay to cross the border making it exceedingly more difficult to bring him to the courthouse through extradition. She communicated this information only to the attorneys present while the victim and his supporters sat there, straining to hear what was happening as Judge Shipman didn’t see it necessary to even address the attendees or inform them of what happened.
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This development and the treatment experienced by the Court and legal representatives left the victim anxious, frustrated, angry, and scared. The victim asked Prosecutor Dickens if he could address the court or he at least read his statement for the judge’s consideration, even if Ahmad doesn’t show up, but was denied the opportunity to address the court at all. He repeatedly asked about the ankle monitor he was told was assigned to Ahmad and why they couldn’t just go retrieve him but no one knew anything about it. The DA came back and said he “found out” that Collin County had assigned it but they don’t seem to be monitoring it from what he could tell. This kind of willful and woeful unpreparedness is a frightening indictment of the criminal legal system’s process and treatment of involved parties.
John Doe, the pseudonym for the now 18-year-old who was assaulted 4 years ago, said in a statement:
"I felt like I was the one being punished by the court. I am sick and tired of being yanked back and forth to address my abuser and once again having the court being dismissive of his unwillingness to face me. This is not the outcome I had hoped for but is also a testament to the cowardice of my abuser and his poor attempt to continue to exert his control over me. I am not that same scared little boy though. Muneeb, I was ready to face you but you were scared to face me and to face justice.”
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FACE Founder and Executive Director, Alia Salem, said in a statement:
“Today’s experience for the victim is a prime example of why our criminal legal system is in desperate need of an overhaul and why so many victims choose not to come forward. Not only is the process lengthy and cumbersome for all parties where true restoration and meaningful justice are rare and often incomplete, the gaps in the process fail to provide actual accountability and, more often than not, center the needs of the court above the needs of victims, the community-at-large, or even the perpetrators. True justice looks like centering victims and creating a path of restorative justice that doesn’t pursue an incompetent and hands-off plan based solely on punitive measures proven not to make communities safer and leaving concerned parties at the mercy of the court.”
READ : OUT OF EVERY 1,000 SEXUAL ASSAULTS, 975 PERPETRATORS WILL WALK FREE - RAINN WEBSITE
If you need to report an instance of abuse by a religious or community leader, or if you have any questions or concerns regarding this case, please submit an allegation at www.facetogether.org/report or call/text us at (844) 360-2489. You may also email us at info@facetogether.org