RIVERSIDE, Calif., June 12 (UPI) -- A Southern California man has been convicted of 24 charges involving torture of his wives and 19 children and stepchildren.
Mansa Musa Muhummed, 55, could be sentenced to seven life-in-prison terms for starving seven of his children, child abuse, spousal abuse and false imprisonment for forcing two of his three wives to live in a garage. Many of his children testified to being beaten with a boat oar, forced to eat their own waste and to stand in a corner all night, The Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, Calif., reported Thursday.
Muhummed, who claimed his Islamic faith justified many of his actions, was arrested in April 1999 by Riverside County sheriff's deputies alerted by a letter from one of his wives. Deputies then found two wives and children living in a garage without access to running water, heat or air conditioning.
However defense attorney Pete Morreale said he plans an appeal.
"I'm extremely disappointed about the verdict, especially the torture counts," he said in The Press-Enterprise article. "I thought we had a shot because I didn't think they proved torture."
