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Colorado Springs Police Department
Jasim Mohammed Hassin Ramadon served as an Iraqi informant for U.S. soldiers in 2003. He was recently charged with sexual assault in Colorado.
As a boy, Jasim Mohammed Hassin Ramadon was praised for his courage in serving as an informant to U.S. soldiers in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq in 2003.
But Ramadon, who was eventually relocated to the U.S. with the assistance of the soldiers he helped, is now charged with a brutal sexual assault.
In an affidavit obtained by NBC News, Ramadon, 22, is identified as one of five Iraqi men who allegedly participated in the July 23 attack on a woman in Colorado Springs, Colo. Both Ramadon and Sarmad Fadhi Mohammed are charged with sexual assault and accessory; the other three men have been charged with accessory.
The affidavit states that the victim returned to her apartment after midnight after working a night shift. She then went to check her mail and encountered a group of young men arguing. She intervened to stop the altercation and spoke to some of the men once the fight broke up. She next recalled being in an apartment with four of the men and discussing their unhappiness at how they were treated in the U.S. and the difficulty of living in a foreign country.
"(She) further said the males talked about the United States oppressing them and calling them terrorists," read the affidavit. "(She) explained the four males reminded her of her son and she wanted to help calm them down."
The woman recalled drinking what she believed was lemonade and said she had no memory of the events that followed until waking up in her apartment later that morning in "immense" pain. When a police officer was dispatched to her apartment that morning, she noticed "numerous apparent blood stains inside and outside the apartment," the affidavit said.
The Colorado Springs Police Department said in a statement that, "An examination at the hospital revealed significant internal injuries consistent with blunt force trauma and serious bodily injuries, rarely seen."
In 2009, Ramadon told Colorado Springs NBC affiliate KOAA about his time as an informant to U.S. soldiers and the difficulty of adjusting to life in America.
Ramadon's father was a captain in the Iraqi army, according to KOAA. Ramadon, then 13 years old, rejected his father's instructions to kill U.S. troops and instead assisted soldiers in capturing his father during a night raid. He eventually participated in 20 missions, turning over 40 insurgents. Ramadon's mother, though, was shot to death in front of his family.
Ramadon's story was featured in the 2009 memoir, "A Soldier's Promise," by Army First Sgt. Daniel Hendrex. He was relocated to Colorado Springs and lived temporarily with Hendrex, who had promised to care for Ramadon.
"But after eight months, it became clear that we were not going to be the best long-term care option for him," Hendrex wrote in his memoir. "He has so much potential, but (Ramadon) needs a great deal of guidance to help him deal with his tumultuous past."
On the advice of a child psychologist, Hendrex parted ways with Ramadon with the hope that it might help the teenager start anew: "I was too close and too much a part of some of the most traumatic incidents of his life in Iraq," he wrote.
Ramadon was placed in foster care, and KOAA reported that he struggled with untreated post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. He told the station that he had trouble acclimating at school and that his classmates called him a "terrorist." Despite those troubles, Ramadon married and had a daughter.
Ramadon was arrested on sexual assault charges on Tuesday. He is being held on $250,000 bond, according to the Associated Press.
Others arrested in the case also were being held on $250,000 bond. Court records indicate Ramadon has a public attorney, the AP reported. It was not known if the other suspects had legal representation. The suspects have not entered a plea; a preliminary hearing will be held on Sept. 4.
All of the suspects have lawful permanent resident status in the U.S., but the Colorado Springs Police Department said in a statement that they can be deported if they are convicted of committing a felony sexual assault.
Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at NBC News. Follow her on Twitter here.
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Leave a Comment:
surprised? these men come from a place where women are treated like cattle.
Islam supports this culture against women.
You guys are both idiots.....if he was convicted of this in Saudi Arabia he'd either get his dick chopped off or executed.
someone explain why those "in charge" cannot delete a comment without deleting the entire thread???
Did everyone miss how this is all alleged? I forget, if you are charged with something, you are guilty. Courts be damned right?
Maybe the women didnt like these foreigners and lied. Maybe he had nothing to do with it. Maybe she got too drunk, made an ass of herself, and was sent home.
These comments are discusting.
I am not surprised. These men come from a world where women are treated like cattle. or less then cattle.
You can take someone from the ME out of the brutality, but you can't take the brutality out of someone from the ME
Olivia; The women needs a good slap side the head. How many women in the world let men that they don't know into their apartment at midnight to "comfort" them? Like memyself830 stated these men have zero respect for women. Then she drank what she thought was lemonade. What? its her house she didn't know what she was drinking in her own house? Oh wait not only did she let 4 men in after midnight in her house that she didn't know but also allowed them to give her a liquid that she knew zero about. Smart women....
Yup, asking 4 strange, male, twentysomethings into your home after midnight? I'm not going to blame the victim, but I'm going to blame lack of smarts. She's living in la la land. Yes, she was trying to be nice, but blindly trusting 4 strangers into your home is just foolish.
Now, now....no means no. Don't make me call you Taliban. That...was sarcasm. It appears that this woman has no common sense, and drank the Kool-Aid...or lemonade in her case, as it were. Cry no means no all you want, everyone in this world isn't your friend. There are predators out and about, and if you are not cautious they may make a meal of you.
Geez, did you guys not really comprehend the story? It SAID she recalled "being in an apartment.' It was never disclosed that she let them into her apartment. Good Lord, I don't think not a one of you could pass a reading comprehension test.
Ya the 4 men in question, drugged her, raped her and allowed her to just wake up in their apartment. Oh wait she was drugged in another apartment but managed to get home. Cause we all know that rapist are so nice to make sure she made it home safe.
The local paper here in Colorado Springs reported she drank the lemonade first in their apartment, at which point she lost all memory, THEN woke up in her own apartment and has no recollection of ever taking the men to her own apartment.
Deport all foreign nationals who come from violent cultures they are not and will never be part of our society.
Laaadeedaaa; Unless your native american we're all foreigners, God America would be one quiet country.
USNRet, Even Native Americans aren't NATIVE Americans. They are foreigners as well. We all come from someplace else.
Janine;
Yes its said that indigenous people were here before the Christopher Columbus voyage but still has not been proven. But I'm sure you can agree that the Native Americans lived her long before your forefathers did.
I agree...all you frakin' wasichu's go back to where you came from.
Janine, Since the first people to LIVE on the North American continent were already here BEFORE the Europeans showed up, they are the natives. You seem to be rather sensitive to anyone claiming to be native unless it fits your view...
Expect more of the same from these people we are protecting because they helped us. Nothing new here. Gratitude at its best.
Sorry! It was the WOMAN. People, THINK how many of you EVER knew such a sexually excited female? She intervened in an argument between a group of men and said she wished there was something SHE COULD DO to (give them a good nights sleep). Wow. If only they had paid her....
Art,I think you need to be put in with these men.You sound like the type that would purposley hurt someone.
...
This is surely profiling.
...
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are creating so many screwed-up people who are probably never going to be psychologically healthy again.
No one "wins" in a war. We need to get all Americans out of these two countries NOW...and I don't want to hear anymore excuses.
Well said. This incident is a typical example of collateral damage resulting from war.
Just goes to show you that we should not befriend and trust any militant muslim/islamist cultists... their beliefs include that women are nothing more than a possession with their outdated and utterly rediculous sharia law.
This guy gave up his own father for criss sake... His father, an Iraqi soldier wanted him to kill American soldiers... wow, we are there to help the Iraqi people and military and they still want us dead... wow...
This is the land of the free and their land is of the oppressed... and he didn't like it here because of his roots...
Well hope he likes a small room with a barred door - he is going to be looking a walls for a long time.
Pete--read for detail, please. His father was a captain in the Iraqi army back in 2003, i.e. BACK WHEN WE FIRST INVADED, when the military was still under Saddam Hussein, so of course he wanted American soldiers dead.
Sure, he gave up his own father, and whether that's betrayal or bravery is a matter of perspective, not objective truth. Personally, I think that taking that kind of risk to help the US Army earned him trip here. It's just tragic that it had to lead to this.
Again not blaming the victim in any way: This guy suffered PTSD.
Born a child of war, a war we created, a senseless war imagined by an illegitimate president. We asked him to betray his father, and he sees his mother die in front of him. Exactly what do any of you ass-for-brains expect?
So now he's dropped in a country that hates his guts, can't even find a wife, and he falls in with some creeps. Really??? And you are still blaming him??
Despite those troubles, Ramadon married and had a daughter.
LuisM; Also says his mother was killed in front of his family, does not say in front of him. Might want to read it again before you comment.
"Ramadon's mother, though, was shot to death in front of his family." To me that is the same as died in front of him! Have you lost your mother? do you know what it means to loose someone in such a senseless way?? You are diminishing all that pain, with the click of a key, a man pain is worth nothing... When you can't win on facts discredit the messenger.
I'm a child of war. The US killed my county's president, sound familiar? - It's not Iraq, but it's a very old playbook the US has used many times. I didn't loose my family but they flew to the US and later came back for me, it was like loosing your mom, even if only temporarily. I had automatic fire, just miss me, the bullets hitting the wall behind me. I would wake up screaming in the middle of the night because I would recall that event, some weeks I could hardly sleep, I suffered migraines and didn't want to sleep alone. Back in the sixties, Minorities were hated by just about everyone. Here you are in the greatest country on earth yet you feel alone, hated. I married, but I had to go home to find someone, this country, can never truly be my home, it's just were I live.
Get the F out and go take your a$$ back home if it is so bad here. We don't want whiners like you here anyway.
I served in the military, Who did you serve? Hambergers in McDonalds??
Over 100 billion served. Sorry for the @!$%# we gave you Luis. Tom, you can feel free to leave any time as well.
Did someone actually say we went there to "steal" oil???
Why do people insist on saying that garbage? In order to "steal" the oil, we woul dhave to pump the crap ourselves, then load it on ship, or lay a very long pipe to a refinery....then sell it/use it ourselves.
What happened was that after we secured the area (not very well)....the NEW IRAQI government restarted the pumping and shipping operations.....AND THEY GOT ALL THE MONEY. the Us didnt get a kickback, nor did we get any special cut-rate deal on oil.
just stop that tired old line.....all of you that listen to a politicians words one day and take them as 100% truth should stop repeating thae crap you hear...and please DONT VOTE in november if you cannot do research first. (I say that becuase of the huge number of voters that say they dont like romneys VP pick, yet dont know they can vote a split ticket)
HEY BEN
WE did not invade Iraq to steal their OIL. WE invaded Iraq so the OIL corporations can Pump Iraqs OIL and make billions in profits. Do you think the arabs have the technology to do anything besides murder each other??
Deport him back to his home country apparently he misses his old way of life and thinks this behavior is acceptable here.
Such a sad story, make him serve a couple of years in Jail and deport his behind back to Iraq. He had a traumatic life and has seen and participated in much mayhem in his life, he would make a perfect hit man for the mob or something. Get rid of him he will be trouble if he finishes his jail sentence and released.
Reading comprehension, folks. Though not teriibly well-written, the article states:
" She next recalled being in an apartment with four of the men and discussing their unhappiness at how they were treated in the U.S. and the difficulty of living in a foreign country." (Notice "an apartment," not her apartment.)
"The woman recalled drinking what she believed was lemonade . . ."
(Ever heard of rufi's?)
"she had no memory of the events that followed until waking up in her apartment later that morning . . ."
You can fault her for poor judgement, but at least get the (limited) facts straight!
So I know this is teh internetz, and logic isn't entirely welcome here, but could we all stop for a moment before deciding that every story must have a villain and a victim? No story is completely black and white.
First, the Islamic religion is a peaceful one. As with any religion, there are extremists who warp their teachings to justify and rationalize their own ends. It happens in Christian denominations as well (e.g. Westboro Baptist Church). The answer is simple: don't judge an entire religions on the actions of a few.
Second, several people are saying that the woman should have known better and it is therefore her fault. Let's try to avoid victim-shaming, please. Did she make a bad decision? Yes. Did she put herself in a bad situation? Yes. Was she "asking for it" or did she deserve what happened to her as a punishment said bad decisions. No. I understand the reason we'd want to write her off--it makes us feel more secure. "I would never do something so stupid, therefore this bad thing couldn't possibly happen to me. I'm smarter than that." It's perfectly fine to take a lesson from what occurred, but it's not right to blame her for being drugged and raped.
Third, how many people noticed that he was diagnosed with PTSD? When you put a child through a war, and on top of that, the child is caught between two opposing forces, turns against his family and neighbors in order to save lives, relocated to a new country where he doesn't speak the language, and is bullied by his peers, of course there's going to be fallout. The fact that he lived a relatively normal life is admirable and indicates that he tried to move beyond his circumstances. Be that as it may, his alleged actions are unconscionable and he deserves to be tried in court like any American citizen. Were there factors that contributed to his moral and psychological development that played a role in his long-term future? Of course. Does this excuse him? No. But again, you cannot make a blanket statement like "all Muslims/people from the middle east/people who are different than me are violent/racist/sexist/etc." and expect that a) it will be true or b) people won't call you out on it.
-Vocem veritatis
Ya, ya, real peaceful there Achmed... Durkka durkka Jihad! Jihad!
Peaceful? The Islamic religion is PEACEFUL?? Not quite sure you got the facts right here. Consider their 'Prophet' is a child rapist, and this fella only raped a grown woman (note the sarcasm) ... They are NOT peaceful. Okay, okay, maybe SOME of them are, but when their own religious leaders over 1200 or so years say this behavior is not only acceptable, but pleasing to Allah...Well, then I have to disagree with the whole peaceful aspect. Oh, by the way, I CAN provide a link so you can see it for yourself if needed.
I see things similar to this everyday in our press. Sounds like a party gone bad and now those guys have to pay the price. And I totally agree with the other folks in this blog who wonder why anyone would try and "comfort" these strangers (who were in an altercation a few minutes before) at midnight. No one has said it here so let me be the first; did they not have enough money?
Just another liberated Iraqi; thank you George!!
Whocares, apparently you do very much.
"She next recalled being in an apartment with four of the men and discussing their unhappiness at how they were treated in the U.S. and the difficulty of living in a foreign country."
In other words, "it just happened."
Women...
TOFTS - Why don't you join this guy and go to Iraq....as a target?
The smarter thing for her to have done would have been to dial 9-1-1 and let the police intervene in the arguement.
When the US grows brains and stops bringing this vermin into the US it will be a good day. This is their culture and not ours and we imported this. Maybe we have learned something, but I won't hold my breath.
None of this would have happened if the US had not invaded Iraq in the first place.
A sexual predator was released in Pueblo, CO. He re-offended and went back to jail for a short time and was released again. He re-offended and went back to jail again. He's being re-released once again!!!!!!!
Of course, he, like the many others released to Pueblo, CO, is an immigrant (By the gov't definition). Please tell me how we're any different from Iraq.
Nobody can pick allies like we can.