Maadi Child Molester Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

TW: this news report contains descriptions of sexual abuse of a minor

A Cairo criminal court has sentenced Mohamed Gawdat, known in the media as the Maadi Child Molester, to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor, Al Arabiya reports.

The sentence was issued today, which saw the third hearing in the case. The victim’s lawyer argued that the incident has caused her severe psychological trauma for which she is still undergoing treatment and called on the court to inflict a heavy penalty on Gawdat.

Despite providing a statement confessing to sexually assaulting his seven-year-old victim early on in the investigation, the defendant later denied committing the sex crime during his first appearance in court, contending that she had tried to rob him.

The incident in question, which took place in early March of this year, was caught on a security camera at the lobby of a residential building in the district of Maadi in Cairo. The footage was released on social media, causing massive outrage and uproar as feminist groups across the nation demanded he be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

In the video, Gawdat is seen molesting the young girl when a key witness intervened to stop him and prompted him to look to the camera thus helping the public identify him.

The footage was then examined by authorities and the prosecution confirmed its authenticity. In a statement released on the 10th of March, the Public Prosecution accused Gawdat of kidnapping the homeless girl, luring her inside the building and sexually assaulting her.