Former Elgin Islamic school leader accused of sexual assault gets new judge

ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

A change of judge was granted Thursday by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Joseph M. Cataldo for a prominent former imam and head of an Islamic school in Elgin who was charged last month with sexual assault.

Mohammed Abdullah Saleem, 75, of the 400 block of Jean Street in Gilberts, will next appear before Judge Kara Halios Wednesday, March 25, at the Cook County Courthouse in Rolling Meadows. No reason was given for the imam’s request for a different judge.

Saleem is currently charged only with the assault of a former secretary at the Institute of Islamic Education school he established in Elgin in 1989, but three other women have joined her in a lawsuit alleging they were sexually abused by Saleem as well while they were minors.

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