A former worker at a Birmingham mosque has been jailed for 16 years after carrying out a sickening campaign of rape and sexual abuse against boys as young as nine. 

Police said Said Daauud showed “no remorse” and took the case to trial, meaning his five victims had to be cross-examined, with the oldest aged just 14. The evil worker had groomed the boys, buying them sweets, AirPods, computer games and mobile phones to win over their trust. Well over 4,000 messages were exchanged on WhatsApp and Snapchat, where he tried to normalise his behaviour and encouraged the children to tell him they loved him.

In one sickening message, he said, “It’s okay, you can do this” while carrying out the horrifying abuse, and asked one boy to send indecent images of himself.

He took advantage of his position within the community to stay over at the family homes, where police said he touched one child inappropriately.

When one of the boys revealed what was happening to his family, the alarm was raised and police launched an investigation in May 2022.

One victim told West Midlands Police: “Although I knew it was really wrong, I still tried to see the positives in Said. However, as the months have passed I have more of an understanding of how Said had manipulated me and taken advantage of me and my body. I feel so betrayed by him, I can’t even begin to describe this.”

Daauud, of Rudgewick Croft, Aston, answered ‘no comment’ at interview, but specially trained officers took statements from the young boys, and captured CCTV from the mosque that caught some of his inappropriate physical contact with them.

Another boy, who is granted lifelong anonymity, said: “Said has betrayed my trust. He was a friend, like a big brother. I now struggle to trust adults, because he was someone who I trusted as a true friend. This whole situation has made me feel overwhelmed and I just want things to go back to normal.”

One of the boy’s parents said: “Said has taken advantage of the boys being at the Masjid, a place where children should feel and be safe.”

West Midlands Police charged him with rape, nine sexual assaults and four other charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and he was found guilty of all charges after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court. 

Daauud was an agency IT support worker at the mosque, which cannot be named for legal reasons, but stopped working there in February 2022. He continued to attend the mosque and was well known to the congregation.

On February 6, he was jailed for 16 years, and ordered to remain on licence for a further five years after that period. He was also ordered to abide by a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely, and given an indefinite restraining order against each of the children he attacked.

DS Thomas Finney, from the West Midlands public protection unit child abuse team, said: “Daauud has showed no remorse throughout this and has taken the case to trial, which meant that these children had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence and being cross examined. We have made sure they’ve been supported through the process.

“He’s used his position within the community to build up a real level of trust with families, who were happy to let him stay the night and care for their children.

“He abused that trust in the most appalling way, with a series of appalling sexual attacks on really young members of the community.

“It was only when one of the boys revealed what was happening to his family that the alarm was raised and the full extent of what was happening came to light.

“We worked closely with the management at the mosque, who were supportive of the police investigation. They provided us with CCTV footage, statements and details of the children involved to get us to these convictions.

“I’d like to thank each of the boys and their families for their bravery and support in helping us put this dangerous sexual predator behind bars. Our thoughts are with them today.”