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http://www.southcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/1124
Muslim dad suspected in torture of children - `This is the worst I've ever seen,' police commander says
2002-11-19
by Jamie Swift
Journal Reporter
AUBURN -- As two children matter-of-factly described the various ways their father tortured them over the past year, an experienced child-interview specialist broke down and cried.
Auburn police Cmdr. Bob Karnofski said the interviewer ``had to leave the room. She was breaking down.''
``Short of the murders we've had (caused by child abuse), this is the worst I've ever seen,'' Karnofski said. ``It's just horrific.''
A 26-year-old Muslim father is accused of turning his home in the 1800 block of C Street Southwest into a torture chamber for his 9-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, both Terminal Park Elementary School students.
Hamas Abdul Aleem is charged with two counts of first-degree assault of a child and is being held in the Regional Justice Center jail on $250,000 bail.
His son and daughter are staying with their mother at a relative's home out of state.
King County prosecutors say Aleem tortured the boy and girl on a regular basis between November 2001 and Oct. 20.
The children's mother left them with their father and his new wife in Tacoma in November last year while she attended a funeral in Jordan. When she returned, a few months later, Aleem and the children had moved.
The mother finally tracked them down in Auburn last month. She picked up her children at Terminal Park Elementary School and went to the police. Auburn police took the kids to the hospital, where various injuries were discovered, including the boy's broken arm.
The children told investigators their father pulled out their toe nails with pliers, placed their feet in a burning fireplace, burned them with an iron, hit them with sticks, belts, a hose and a coaxial cable, poked them with a plunger handle, and used a lighter and pliers on their genitals.
``The kids were saying this matter-of-factly,'' Karnofski said. ``Like this is life. This is normal.''
They went on to describe how their father made them sleep naked on the garage floor and how he would put a barbell on their backs so they couldn't get up. He would douse them with water to make sure they were cold.
They said their father also made them eat dog feces and drink dish-washing liquid so it would be painful to urinate. He also spit down their throats, kicked them with his boots and made them clean the bathroom tub with bleach, which would get into their open wounds and sting, they said.
Asked how often they were tortured, the boy replied: ``Every day.''
Based on the interviews, police also suspect Aleems' new wife abused the children, but she left the state, Karnofski said. She could face a misdemeanor assault charge.
Aleem was arrested at his Auburn home. He had packed a bag, picked up his paycheck and was ready to flee before his arrest, police said. He pleaded innocent on Thursday. His next court appearance is Nov. 27.
Detectives who searched Aleems' C Street duplex said they found evidence to back up the kids' story, including many of the items the children said were used to torture them. And investigators found ``significant amounts'' of blood in the garage. There was a mattress in the garage and the ``Dawn'' dish-washing liquid the boy specifically mentioned, police said.
According to court documents, ``Aleem admitted that he needed help, but minimized his assaults upon the children to only beating them with a belt. He admitted nothing ... without being cornered by contradicting facts.''
Aleem also could face federal charges because he is an illegal immigrant. He once was deported to his native Jordan, but returned. He has an extensive criminal history, which includes drug, assault and sexual assault convictions.