Imam denies seducing women with BlackBerry

An Egyptian imam who used BlackBerry services to connect with women whom he lured to have sex with him was netted in a police sting operation.

Facing charges in a Dubai court, the 34-year-old imam allegedly lured an yet-to-be-determined number of women into the trap he laid using the BlackBerry Messenger service.

According to the case sheet, the imam used to send pornographic pictures to women he targeted.

He however denied the charges and sought a lawyer.

An Emirati first lieutenant testified that police worked on a tip-off about the imam seducing women through the BlackBerry service.
 
An undercover policeman acted as a woman, Mariam, and engaged the unsuspecting imam in a series of messages that led to his arrest.

The policeman who posed as the girl testified that the imam started discussing sex and sought a meeting at a hotel where he had booked a room.

He was arrested at the hotel and a sex toy recovered. On realising he was cornered, the imam tried to erase the messages from his BlackBerry handset.

The imam later admitted during police interrogation that he had chatted with the policeman SM, who posed as ‘Mariam.’

The trial will resume on December 1.