Police are looking for more victims of a 52-year-old married father of two and Quran-studies volunteer who was charged last month with molesting two girls ages 6 and 9, authorities said.
Ahmad Henry Osman, of Tustin, is accused of molesting the two girls in their home on Feb. 25 under the pretense of religious studies, according to Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky.
Osman was arrested later that day, when one of the girls told their family what happened, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Police said he met his victims at the Indo Chinese Islamic Center which operates out of an apartment in a Santa Ana housing complex.
Osman worked there as a youth educator, teaching religious classes to children on the weekends and in families' homes during the week.
He's been a part of the Islamic Center for more than 20 years, police said.
"Based on the fact he's been there that long, it's their belief that there are potentially other victims out there that are either afraid, or because of cultural or religious beliefs, just don't want to talk about it," said Bertagna.
As a volunteer at the Indo Chinese Islamic Center, Osman would help out with Quran studies when educational staffers were unavailable, according to Imam Abdullah Ahmed. The members of the mosque were shocked to hear of his arrest, Ahmed said.
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Detectives interviewed 33 children who attend classes at the center to see if there were any other alleged victims, as is suspected, Bokosky said.
Anyone with information helpful to investigators was asked to call Santa Ana police investigator Rick Diaz at (714) 245-8412 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Kelly Core at (714) 347-8794.
Osman, who's being held in lieu of $1 million bail, could face up to 50 years to life in prison if convicted as currently charged with two felony counts of performing lewd acts on a child younger than 14, with a sentence-enhancing allegation of multiple victims.
City News Service contributed to this report.
