(RNS) — A former Texas imam and online Quran instructor who was charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography has been sentenced to 80 years in prison, according to federal court documents.
Wisam Sharieff was sentenced on Wednesday (Jan. 28) in the Alabama Northern District Court, more than six months after he entered a guilty plea on three federal child sexual exploitation charges. He was also ordered to pay $135,000 to a fund for victims of child sexual abuse. His co-defendant, Blake Miller Barakat, was sentenced to 70 years last October.
The former high-profile imam’s arrest two years ago and details of allegations made available in court records sparked outrage for some Muslim Americans and led to conversations about how to hold alleged spiritual abusers accountable.
According to the indictment, Sharieff and Barakat, an Alabama woman he was teaching, allegedly conspired together to coerce Barakat’s child to engage in sexually explicit behavior for the purpose of producing pornography. FBI special agent Eric Salvador reported in a sworn affidavit that electronic devices and sexual toys were seized from Barakat’s residence. Officers also discovered a private chat on the Telegram messaging app in which Sharieff sent explicit videos of himself, and t …