ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis jury found a man guilty Thursday in the random sexual assaults of two boys in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood.
A jury found Haji Gul Osmani, 34, guilty of first-degree statutory sodomy, sexual misconduct involving a child and fourth-degree assault. He was found not guilty of two other counts.
Osmani has lived in St. Louis since December 2021 when he arrived from Afghanistan with his wife and four children. There were multiple court delays due to scheduling conflicts with the only two certified interpreters who speak Pashto.
Police said Osmani snatched a 6-year-old boy with special needs from his bike in an alley behind his home and sexually assaulted him on July 23. He was arrested on July 28.
Osmani is also charged with assaulting a 12-year-old boy the week before, who told police Osmani put him in a headlock while he was playing at Francis Park, but he got away from him.
He was also acquitted on two additional charges stemming from an attack that was alleged to have happened the year prior, sometime between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31, 2022, in the 3900 block of Donovan Avenue – just two blocks from where his final known attack occurred in July.
The child in that case came forward around the time police released surveillance photos of Osmani to the public, but police said it took a few more months to build the case around him. The child said Osmani pushed them into a bathroom stall and rubbed his body against them.
The jury found Osmani not guilty of fourth-degree assault and second-degree attempted child molestation in that incident.
His sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 19.
