Indian jailed in Australia for sexually abusing children

MELBOURNE - An Indian salesman in Australia was sentenced to jail Monday after being convicted of sexually assaulting children and possessing child pornography.

Mujahed Ur-Rahman, 29, pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a child aged under 16 and two other charges relating to separate incidences on another victim, committing an indecent act on a child aged under 16 and possessing child pornography.

The Victorian County Court sentenced Mujahed to three years and nine months’ jail, with a non-parole period of two years and three months.

Mujahed, a Foxtel employee, sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl at her home in southeast Melbourne in September last year, the court heard.

Mujahed approached a woman, resident of Noble Park, on Sep 30 asking her to buy a television service. After she declined, he went outside to the front yard and picked up the woman’s nine-year-old daughter and kissed her on the cheek before he sexually penetrated the girl in front of her younger brother.

Judge Paul Lacava said Mujahed’s conduct was the sort of thing every parent feared, reported Australian news agency AAP.

“Your offending involved touching a young girl, that is totally unacceptable. Young children ought to feel safe in the confines of their own homes in broad daylight,” the judge said

Mujahed, who came to Australia in October 2008 to pursue a diploma in hospitality management, had no social life and spent most of his time studying and working for Foxtel, the court was told.

“You seem to me to be a relatively simple man alone in a strange country with few if any friends,” Judge Lacava said. “It seems to me that your simplicity and loneliness are contributing factors”.

The justice said that the man had a good chance of rehabilitation, but general deterrence, denunciation and protecting the community were important factors for consideration when sentencing.