Dubai: An imam denied in court Sunday abusing Blackberry services to seduce girls and persuade them to have sex with him after forwarding them indecent pictures.

Prosecutors accused the 35-year-old Egyptian imam of persuading an unidentified number of women to have sex with him after communicating with them via Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and forwarding indecent photos to them.

"I am not guilty. I did not do any of those allegations. It never happened," argued 35-year-old S.M. when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

When asked by Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir on whether he worked in a mosque, S.M. replied: "Yes I am a mosque imam [person who leads prayers in a mosque]… I need an adjournment so I can hire a lawyer to present my case."

Charges

According to the bill of charges, prosecutors said the defendant seduced women and convinced them to have sex with him. Prosecution records did not specify the number of women or identify them.

He was additionally charged with possessing indecent photos with the intention to show them to others.

An Emirati first lieutenant testified that police were informed that the suspect was seducing women via BBM and inviting them to have sex with him.

"We were alerted that S.M. used to add women on his BBM then lure them to sleep with him … We assigned a policeman to pose as a girl and coordinate with the suspect in order to have him arrested in a sting operation," the first lieutenant said.

"He sent the policeman [who posed as a girl] an indecent photo of himself. Upon arresting him, we confiscated a sex toy in his possession," the first lieutenant claimed to prosecutors."

The Emirati policeman [who posed as a girl] testified that he chatted with S.M. on his BBM. "First he started discussing sex over the BBM chat… then he asked to meet the recipient [who was supposed to be the girl] at a hotel where he made a reservation to have sex. A sex toy was confiscated in his possession when he arrived at the hotel," the policeman claimed during prosecution questioning.

Erase messages

An Emirati lieutenant, who was part of the sting operation, testified that S.M. tried to erase the BBM messages at the time of his arrest.

When interrogated by the police, S.M. admitted that he chatted with the policeman who posed as a girl named Mariam.

The trial resumes on December 1.