In the United States two men have been handed lengthy prison sentences 70 and 80 years for their roles in a horrifying child sexual exploitation case federal authorities said.
According to an official statement from the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice 44 year old Wisam Sharieff of Euless Texas who presented himself online as a Quran recitation instructor was sentenced to 960 months or 80 years in prison. He’s also required to serve a lifetime term of supervised release after his sentence ends and pay a significant special assessment under federal law.
Sharieff had pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiracy in the sexual exploitation of children and multiple offences related to child pornography.
His codefendant 50 year old Blake Miller Barakat also known as “Hamna,” of Shelby County Alabama received 840 months 70 years in prison followed by a lifetime supervised release term and a special assessment. Barakat also pleaded guilty last year to sexual exploitation of children and possessing and distributing child pornography.
Court documents show that the pair repeatedly viewed and shared explicit material online and coerced a seven year old child into watching and participating in sexually explicit acts producing child pornography in the process.
The FBI said Sharieff used his religious instructor role to manipulate Barakat and promote a disturbing claim that sexual gratification could bring someone closer to God a tactic that investigators described as part of how they targeted their victim.
U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona labelled the offences among the “most reprehensible” crimes and reaffirmed federal commitment to aggressively pursue and prosecute individuals who target children. The case was pursued under Project Safe Childhood a nationwide DOJ initiative to combat online child sexual exploitation.
