(Dallas Morning News) A judge ordered a North Texas Muslim cleric to pay millions of dollars to a woman he is accused of sexually exploiting after counseling her for years.
Zia ul-Haq Sheikh, who has served as an imam at Dallas-area mosques, must pay $2.55 million for mental anguish and punitive damages and his accuser’s legal fees, District Court Judge Emily Tobolowsky decided Thursday, according to a news release.
Sheikh had been working as an imam at the Islamic Center of Irving, one of the biggest mosques in Texas, when he allegedly exploited the woman, according to a lawsuit filed in July 2018 and later amended to include an allegation of sexual assault.
Sheikh said in an email Tuesday afternoon that he believed the judgment against him “is in error.”
(Text updated)
