DUBAI // A hotel lifeguard lured a child, 6, into a room and sexually assaulted him, but the boy did not tell his mother until they left the country, a court has heard.
The French boy was staying at a hotel in Al Muraqqabat with his family on July 13 this year when the Pakistani man, 21, took him into an empty room near the pool, touched him inappropriately and assaulted him, prosecutors said.
After her son told her what had happened, his mother had him examined by a forensics expert overseas.
“When the forensics expert confirmed signs of sex assault she contacted Dubai Police,” said the Emirati officer. “We spoke to the lifeguard about the accusations and he confessed willingly.”
Surveillance cameras filmed the defendant as he followed the child, while another video showed him holding the boy by the shoulder.
“He told us that the child approached him to help him blow up a rubber ring, after which he took him to the room and molested him. But he said he never took the child’s clothes off,” said the officer.
Prosecutors said they found sexually explicit material on the defendant’s mobile phone.
The lifeguard denied the sexual assault charge in court on Monday and a verdict is due to be announced on November 21.
salamir@thenational.ae