TAMPA – [www2.tbo.com]- A Tampa man charged with torturing a 10-year-old female relative because she discovered his pornographic movie collection remains jailed this morning. No bail has been set.
Authorities learned of the incident through an anonymous tip, and police went to the girl’s elementary school to interview her Thursday. The school was not named by authorities.
Arrested late Thursday afternoon was Moslim Al Assadi, 36, who lives in the 1900 block of Patterson Street. He remained in the Orient Road Jail this morning, charged with aggravated child abuse, a first-degree misdemeanor. The charges stem from an incident that the girl said occurred in June or July.
In an arrest affidavit, Tampa police said the girl told them that Al Assadi got mad because she found his collection of adult movies. He tied her hands behind her back and forced her into a partially filled bathtub, where he dunked her head under the water several times, “causing her to struggle for breath,” the affidavit said.
The girl’s siblings witnessed the incident, police said, and recounted the same story to police Thursday.
Tampa police detectives along with child protection investigators went to the home Thursday and removed the victim and two other children, ages 7 and 8.
A neighbor said Al Assadi moved into the rental property three years ago and had been homeless prior to that.