Justice Navindra Singh on Thursday afternoon sentenced Nezaam Ali, the Muslim scholar accused of rape, to 45 years in jail on one rape count.

Ali, age 38, also known as ‘Mufti,’ an Imam of Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, is still to be tried for eight additional counts of engaging in sexual activity with boys under the age of 12, back in 2012.

The charges alleged that between December 2011 and January 2012, Ali, being a teacher attached to the Turkeyen Masjid, engaged in sexual activity with the children. He was granted bail in the sum of $1.3M at the time.

On Thursday, Ali denied raping the victim and he also told the court that he suffers from erectile dysfunction.

The man’s attorney , Stanley Moore, told the court that the virtual complainant received no physical injuries or psychological trauma.

However , the prosecution told the court that while there are no physical scars present, the act left emotional scars on the victim and that the accused betrayed the victim’s trust by taking away his innocence.

Justice Singh in passing down his ruling , said that he considered the geographic of where the act was committed and that the Ali took advantage of an under-privileged child. ” There is nothing I can tell you that can mitigate these types of crime, ” the judge said to the accused.

Justice Singh also said that whilst the victim tried to identify Ali in court during the trial ,the accused smiled at the young man.

The acts were allegedly committed while Ali was in a position of trust, being a religious teacher, and knew, or could reasonably expect to have known of the trust in relation to the boys. The boys had been attending Arabic and Koran classes at the time.

The defendant was represented by Attorneys-at-law Moore and Latchmi Rahamat, while Tuanna Hardy represented the state.