Shah Masukur Rashid

A volunteer imam who sexually assaulted two girls aged between five and seven during Quran lessons has been jailed for six years.

Shah Masukur Rashid, 45, worked at a mosque in Cheltenham and exploited his role as a volunteer Quranic tutor to gain unsupervised access to the children in family homes.

Rashid sexually touched the girls both over and under their clothing between October 2018 and January 2019. Gloucester Crown Court convicted him of six counts of sexual assault — two against one girl and four against the other.

His crimes were uncovered after the children were overheard describing him as “creepy”. When relatives asked why, the girls disclosed what he had done during their lessons, exposing the sexual abuse committed by a religious tutor entrusted with teaching them.