TAMPA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - It took two years for a Florida Islamic society to find out who is suing it for sexual assault.
A Sept. 14 motion to postpone a trial date reveals the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay waited two years to find out the identity of the John Doe who sued it in August 2021. Without that information, the society says it has been unable to gather evidence to defend itself.
The plaintiff's name was disclosed to the society this August.
"(T)he defendants have been unable to serve subpoenas due to the delay in obtaining the plaintiff's name until recently," the motion says.
"The defendants have been unable to take the plaintiff's deposition because the defendants have not been told the plaintiff's name, until recently.
"Defendants have made all efforts to move the case along, however without the name of the minor plaintiff, there could be no discovery to pursue as there was no name provided in order to obtain records and information."
According to the complaint, John Doe was a minor when he alleges that Ehab Moustafa Ghoniem, a former Youth Director who is facing criminal charges, began grooming him.
John Doe alleges that he and Ghoniem spent a lot of time together through counseling, praying, traveling and camping. John Doe alleges that on trips and other occasions, Ghoniem provided him with pills to get Doe to sleep and perform sexually inappropriate relations with him.
John Doe is represented by Sam Y. Badawi.