Tanveer Hussain, a 24-year-old Indian athlete, has been indicted in the United States on charges of sexually abusing a minor girl, days after he arrived from Kashmir for a snowshoe competition.
A grand jury in the Essex County of New Jersey charged Hussain with one count of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
“Hussain is alleged to have subjected a 12-year-old female to sexual contact and engaged in inappropriate conversations with said child during the time he was in Saranac Lake,” the report quoted Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague as saying.
The report added that Hussain had previously denied the charges and declined a plea deal that would have let him return to India as he wanted to clear his name.
Hussain’s lawyer Brian Barrett said that he was disappointed that the judge announced the indictment in a press release before notifying him. “This is all about the press. That’s what this whole case is all about,” he said.
Hussain had been arrested in March on charges of sexually abusing the minor girl, two days after he competed in the World Snowshoe Championships at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. The minor girl had told police that Hussain had kissed her twice and groped her two days after the snowshoe race.
Hussain was in the news before arriving in the US for the snowshoe championship after the country’s Embassy in New Delhi had denied him and another athlete visas around the same time President Donald Trump had issued an order barring travel into the US from seven Muslim-dominant countries.
While India was not among the seven countries, the denial of visa to Hussain and the other athlete was seen to be associated with the executive order.
