08 June 2017

Former imam guilty of marrying child bride to a 34-year-old at Noble Park mosque

A former Melbourne imam has been found guilty of marrying a 14-year-old girl to a man 20 years older, after a magistrate found the evidence against the cleric was "compelling".

Ibrahim Omerdic, 62, was on Thursday found to have married the girl to the man, 34, at a Bosnian mosque in Noble Park on September 29 last year.

The charge of taking part in a forced marriage carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

Omerdic fought the charge in a contested hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court last month.

He was the imam of the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque at the time of the wedding but was sacked from his position after he and the man who was married first fronted court earlier this year.

His licence to perform marriages has since been revoked. [The Age] Read more