An Alexandria criminal court has unanimously referred the case of a school janitor convicted of sexually assaulting five kindergarten students to Egypt’s Grand Mufti—a procedural requirement before issuing the death sentence, in the first session.
The ruling announced Tuesday, follows the defendant’s conviction for indecent assault and sexual abuse of five children at the Alexandria Language School. The court has scheduled Feb. 1 to deliver its final verdict, pending the Mufti’s non-binding religious opinion.
The decision came during only the second hearing of the trial, following arguments from the prosecution and a failed attempt by the defense to secure a psychiatric evaluation for the defendant. The court rejected claims of mental illness and ruled in favor of the prosecution’s request for the harshest available punishment.
Under Article 283 of the amended Penal Code (Law 5 of 2018), kidnapping that results in rape or indecent assault is punishable by either execution or life imprisonment.
Tarek Elawady, lawyer representing the victims' families, hailed the ruling as a message of reassurance for parents across the country. “This sends a strong signal that our children are protected, that Egypt remains safe as long as we have a judiciary that grasps the severity of these crimes and issues justice that deters,” he said in a Facebook livestream outside court.
Elawady explained that the death penalty was not applicable to such crimes before the 2018 legal amendment, but the court has now fully implemented the updated statute at the prosecution’s request.
He also noted that the court dismissed the defense’s attempt to question the credibility of the children’s testimonies by requesting forensic examinations of the victims, a tactic often used in similar cases.
“Indecent assault does not require full sexual capability. The crime is established by any contact with a child’s intimate parts,” Elawady clarified, referring to the infamous Damanhour case earlier this year.
Significantly, Elawady said the defense appeared to acknowledge the presence of additional perpetrators at the school. He called for full accountability for administrators and staff who enabled or failed to report the abuse.
Following the incident, the Ministry of Education placed Alexandria Language School under administrative and financial oversight. Earlier this month, the school issued a statement asserting its full cooperation with the investigation, announcing the immediate suspension of the accused worker, and pledging to bolster campus security by barring non-teaching staff from student areas.
This case is not an isolated one. On Tuesday, a southern Mansoura criminal court sentenced a student's father to five years, on charges of sexual extortion of his child's female teacher. The ruling came despite the school's attempts to cover up the case, forcing the teacher to resign with no compensation.
Earlier this month, the ministry of education had also put Seeds International School in Cairo under state oversight, where at least five children were allegedly sexually assaulted by staff in a locked room.
In that case, prosecutors have charged four school employees with kidnapping and indecent assault, citing threats and coercion. Three additional suspects were added to the case this week.
In recent months, Egypt’s Public Prosecution has referred numerous educators to disciplinary hearings over comparable violations. In a landmark 2020 decision, the Higher Administrative Court upheld the dismissal of a teacher who had harassed 120 female students in Alexandria.
The ruling acknowledged the systemic nature of sexual harassment in schools and pointed to state negligence in addressing the issue.
