A religious instructor at an East Elmhurst, Queens, NY mosque has been charged after he allegedly molested a 9-year-old female student on at least two separate occasions between November 2015 and February 2016.
Mohammed Rana, 46, of East Elmhurst, Queens, is an instructor of a religious after-school program at Masjid Abu Huraira Mosque, at 78-04 31st Ave. Authorities say that sometime between Nov. 30, 2015 and Jan. 28, 2016, during the after school hours, Rana sexually abused a student by reached under the 9-year-old girl’s shirt and squeezed her chest with his hand while saying, “you are a good girl.” He also allegedly groped the girl’s chest on Feb. 3, 2016. Investigators became aware of the abuse when a sexual abuse prevention workshop, utilizing puppets, came to the victim’s public school and the girl disclosed to the workshop instructor what had happened to her.
Rana has been charged with two counts of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, and is awaiting trial in Queens Criminal Court, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. Mohammed Rana is a sick man and should be locked up for some time. Who knows if he has done this to any other children. Upon his release from prison he should have to register as a sex offender and will carry that title with him for life.