TAMPA — The father wanted to root his boys in Islam, so he sent them to the mosque for overnight prayer.
His sons loved the mosque, just north of Kennedy Boulevard near downtown. They played inside the blue building called Masjid Omar Al Mukhtar and rode their bikes to the nearby Wendy's and KFC.
The mosque was the house of Allah, the safest place the family knew.
Then, Sunday morning, one of the boys, a 13-year-old, called his mother, begging to be brought home. He said the imam had sexually assaulted him, police said.
"I'm still dizzy about it," the father told the St. Petersburg Times. "As Muslims, we come to the house of Allah to rid ourselves of sin we commit outside the house of Allah. We do not go to the house of Allah to sin."
Tampa police charged Yasser Mohamed Shahade, 35, with sexual battery. An Egyptian who arrived two months ago as the mosque's full-time imam, Shahade was held without bail at the Falkenburg Road Jail. The Sheriff's Office notified immigration officials of his arrest.
Shahade declined an interview request Thursday. He will be represented by a public defender.
The Times is not identifying the victim or his family because of the nature of the crime.
The father knows that many Muslims would have kept this matter private.
He could have quietly moved his family to another mosque and left Shahade behind.
"Some people feel that airing your dirty laundry, the shame comes on you. No. Our family does not feel shame," he said. "If we had let him go, he would've done it to somebody else."
The father supported bringing the imam, or prayer leader, to Tampa a year ago when the mosque was looking for a leader. The imam spoke eloquently. He had a wife and two daughters. He seemed well qualified. No one thought to check his background.
Mosque members took care of Shahade, treating him to lunches and buying him things, including a laptop computer, the father said.
Some mosques allow boys to stay overnight as a way of freeing them from family pressures and encouraging prayer.
So, for the past four weekends, the father had allowed his two sons to stay a night with Shahade at the mosque.
It was a new experience for the 13-year-old, a boy who in his spare time like to swim, ride his bike and play football.
The father said he told both boys they would sleep on their sleeping bags in the prayer hall.
But Saturday night, the boys ended up in the imam's private room at the mosque, the father later learned.
He said his son gave him this account: The boys watched television with the imam and then the imam prayed. The imam gave the 13-year-old a glass of water.
The boy's next memory came at 6 a.m. Sunday. He awoke on the edge of the imam's bed and felt the imam on top of him, the father said. Shahade got off him and left the room, the father said.
The boy woke his younger brother, then called their mother, who told their father. The father instructed the 13-year-old not to go to the bathroom or wash. He knew physical evidence would be important. He told the boys to wait outside for him.
He consulted with a Muslim doctor and took his son to Tampa General Hospital. The hospital put him in a private room and told him to call police. The boy talked to a nurse, three detectives and a social worker. He was examined at a rape crisis center. Police arrested Shahade at the mosque.
The boy's younger brother reported that on a previous overnight visit, he felt someone tug on his underwear as he slept in the imam's bed, the father said. The young boy initially didn't tell his father. He knew his father would be upset that he had slept in the imam's room instead of on his sleeping bag, the father said.
"They loved this man," the father said. "They trusted him."
The father said the 13-year-old would see a counselor. He went back to school right away. The family has tried to keep his life as normal as possible. They have told him what happened is against Islam.
"You'd never think this can happen to you, especially someone you trust, you look up to in your community," he said. "I mean this is your guidance."
The father said he still has faith though he struggles to comprehend what happened. The day after the arrest, he went to the mosque, kneeled and prayed.
Justin George can be reached at (813) 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com.
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