By The Diary
Tajul Islam, a religious leader in Queens (NYC), has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing two 10-year-old girls inside his mosque. and investigators suspect there could be more victims.
The 55-year-old suspect was accused of inappropriately touching and abusing victims inside the Masjid Bilal Queens mosque, located on Sutphin Blvd., near 121st Ave., in the Jamaica neighborhood, on April 21. He was arrested this week under charges of sexual abuse, forcible touching and conduct injurious to a minorreported Day-to-day News.
Islam stays in the mosque and acts as the “religious leader” of the congregationas stated in the criminal complaint. During his appearance in Queens Criminal Court on Tuesday, he was placed on $25,000 bail to obtain his freedom. Likewise, prosecutors reported that Protective orders were issued prohibiting him from approaching his alleged victims. Authorized Support Society represented the defendant at his appearance, but the organization has not commented.
Fearing that there may be other victims, the police have released Islam’s photograph. Anyone with information should call at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and in Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Also through the website crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
In a similar case, in July of last year Haitham Altartir, a religious teacher who served as a mentor to a 14-year-old student at the Islamic Center of Passaic County in New Jersey, was accused of sexually abusing a teenage student and showing him a loaded gun, according to court documents.
In 2006 the Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Project Protected Childhood, a national initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. He National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has warned since 2020 about an increase in cases of child pornography due to the increased time of adults and children online using social networks.
This week José Ramos (34) was arrested on suspicion of raping a 12-year-old girl in the victim’s apartment in The Bronx (NYC) and the child’s father discovered him red-handed, according to the NYPD. Last week, Ángel Farias, a 71-year-old man, was charged with sexual abuse and other crimes on suspicion of inappropriately touching a girl in a department store in Queens (NYC).
The FBI is also looking for Édgar Lázaro Castillo, a volleyball coach in New York, as a suspect of having sexually exploited teenagers for a period that could exceed 15 years.
In March, Michael Liontonia was arrested on suspicion of raping a 13-year-old girl after luring her to a gas station and taking her in his car to a secluded area in Prolonged Island (NY). Also that month Carlos Aguilar Reynoso, a young man originally from Guatemala, was accused of the assault of a five-year-old girl on Prolonged Island (NY). In addition, Joseph Martínez, an astronomy teacher, was sentenced 27 years after the rape and death of the girl Minerliz Soriano in The Bronx (NYC).
Previously, Joseph Taylor McKeel, a New York City public high school teacher, was arrested at his home in Brooklyn after a tip provided by an undercover agent in Scotland led the FBI to discover a USB drive containing child pornography.
In January, a 14-year-old girl was sexually abused in the Stuyvesant Metropolis neighborhood of Original York (NYC). In October, a father was convicted of sexually abusing his underage daughter repeatedly for approximately a year in Bay Shore, Prolonged Island, NY.
In March 2025, a grandfather was sentenced after admitting to sexually abusing his granddaughter for years, beginning when she was a child, on Prolonged Island (NY). Also in that region in July 2024, a man pleaded guilty and was sentenced for having abused his stepdaughter for years, since she was a child.
- There are 5,750 registered sex offenders in New York; some live near schools and playgrounds
- FBI dismantles child abuse networks on the dark web with 120,000 users
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:
Seek help
- Call 911, 988 or to (800)-942-6906.
- Send the text “WELL” to 65173.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and www.thehotline.org
- Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ https://988lifeline.org/es/inicio/ https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c87g2n139e9o