Dubai football coach accused of threatening to blackmail boys after assaulting them

DUBAI // A football coach is accused of sexually assaulting one of the boys he trained and threatening to use pictures of him as blackmail, prosecutors say.

The case prompted Dubai juvenile prosecutors to warn parents to impose tighter controls on social media after they “received several such cases” of children and teens being targeted online.

Mohammed Rostom, head of family and juveniles prosecution, said electronic blackmail of the young is a result of lax, or no, parental control and observation.

Prosecutors said the 35-year-old coach, from an Asian country, abused a 15-year-old boy and his friends, then threatened to blackmail them if they told anyone.

The trainer was accused of first befriending the boy on Facebook.

“He lured him into his car, then abused him and took pictures of the teen after forcing him to strip naked, then threatened him with the pictures,” said Mr Rostom.

The accused then allegedly took the victim to a sandy area behind one of the schools where he sexually abused him. The boy told his parents, who reported the incident to police, and investigations revealed there were other young victims involved in the case, said Mr Rostom.

Child pornography files were found on the defendant’s computer, and he was charged with sexual assault, issuing threats, inciting sin among teenagers, and possessing child pornography, said Mr Rostom.

The accused would take the boys to and from their houses whenever they had football training, and abused the last one left in the car, Mr Rostom said.

Prosecutors did not say how many victims were involved, but said that the football coach is soon expected to appear in court.