Egyptian media tycoon sentenced to 3 years for trafficking and assaulting orphan girls

Prosecutors discovered that Mohamed El Amin, one of the country's top media moguls, sexually assaulted girls living at an orphanage he owned

Egyptian media and real estate tycoon Mohamed El Amin was arrested in January and his first trial was in March. AFP

An Egyptian court sentenced on Monday Egyptian media tycoon Mohamed El Amin to three years in prison in addition to a fine of EGP 200,000 for human trafficking and for sexually assaulting seven girls at an orphanage he owned in a province near Cairo.

Following a report filed by the country’s National Council for Childhood and Motherhood and an ensuing investigation, El Amin was arrested in January. His first trial was in March.

Investigators discovered that many of the girls living in El Amin’s orphanage had been assaulted by him during his regular visits to the home, which is located in his home province of Beni Suef, 150 kilometres south of Cairo.

The girls’ testimonies, 13 of which were cited in the court’s verdict on Monday which was seen by The National, were remarkably similar with most of them recounting how El Amin would come to the orphanage every week.

El Amin had also made a habit out of taking groups of girls from the orphanage to his summer home in Egypt’s North Coast, where he would also assault them, court documents showed.

Police reports showed that several of the girls had started to develop depression, insomnia and suicidal thoughts.

A recording of one of the girls describing the abuse, which was leaked by a Facebook page called Atfal Mafqooda (Lost Children), caused national outrage.

Egyptian business and media tycoon Mohamed El Amin during a ceremony in Cairo in 2016. AFP

The audio described how El Amin would demand that the girls dress in a certain way or speak in a certain way. He reportedly threatened to throw the girls out on the street if they did not comply with his wishes or if they told anyone about what was happening.

El Amin is one of the country’s most prolific media moguls, who, at his peak, owned and managed 14 television channels and three newspapers in addition to holding a significant interest in some of the country’s most widely read publications.

His public profile grew following his donation of more than 1 billion Egyptian pounds to the Tahya Misr fund, which provides poor people with food, medical services and other benefits.

Because of his status, wealth and connections, many Egyptian media commentators expressed surprise that El Amin was even prosecuted, with one talk show host saying in January that he was once considered to be “above the law”.