Refugees at Ft McCoy arrested for unrelated assaults, one involving minors

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for western Wisconsin confirmed Wednesday that two separate assaults happened at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, and that both crimes are attributed to Afghan refugees staying as guests.

While the crimes are unrelated, both of them are as despicable as they are unfortunate.

Assaults on minors at Fort McCoy

20-year-old Bahrullah Noori is named first in the Department of Justice release on these indictments.

Noori is being charged with “attempting to engage in a sexual act with a minor using force against that person, and with three counts of engaging in a sexual act with a minor, with one count alleging the use of force.”

The indictment alleges that none of these victims were over 16-years-old, and that each one was at least four years younger than the defendant. No further details about the demographic of these victims has been released to the public.

If convicted, Noori faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years and a maximum of life in federal prison on the charges alleging use of force. For the other two charges, there is a maximum penalty of fifteen years.

Spousal abuse, also at Fort McCoy

The second man noted in the release, 32-year-old Mohammad Haroon Imaad, is charged with assaulting his spouse by strangling and suffocating her. The indictment alleges that this assault occurred on September 7, 2021. Imaad faces a maximum penalty of 10 years for this abuse.

The unnamed spouse of Imaad, in the criminal complaint about her husband, said he “beat me many times in Afghanistan to the point I lost vision in both eyes.” Also in the complaint, it says that Imaad’s wife “had been the victim of hitting, strangulation, verbal abuse as well as rape since arriving to Fort McCoy at the hands of Mohammad Imaad.”

Noori and Imaad were previously charged in complaints filed in U.S. District Court. The two made their initial appearances in Madison on September 16 and are currently being detained at the Dane County Jail.

Yesterday was Noori and Imaad’s scheduled arraignment date; Noori’s at 9:30 a.m. and Imaad’s at 10:15 a.m. They were supposed to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker, though no further information is available yet.

The charges against them resulted from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort McCoy Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Corey is handling the Imaad prosecution and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Kraus is handling the Noori prosecution.