A former Seattle Public Schools instructional assistant was charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting an elementary school student.
Abdi Hassan, 31, molested a Rainier View Elementary student who was 6 or 7 years old on multiple occasions while he was assisting her in learning English between July 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents. The girl, 13, is now in middle school, prosecutors say.
The child did not mention the abuse until she was 13 years old and was asked to write an essay about a difficult time in her life, according to the charges. She wrote about the sexual abuse, court documents say.
The girl’s claims were reported to Seattle police and officers began investigating the alleged abuse last November.
During the investigation, the girl told investigators that she would meet Hassan alone at the school library and that’s when the abuse took place, according to court documents.
Hassan was immediately placed on leave during the investigation and was not allowed on any SPS campus or to have contact with students, according to a SPS statement.
The district is moving to officially terminate Hassan’s employment, according to the statement.
Victims of sexual abuse and assault can find resources through the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center at 888-998-6423 or kcsarc.org; or the Harborview Abuse Trauma Center at depts.washington.edu/uwhatc/ or 206-744-1600.