Hassan Hameen during his detention hearing.
The crimes allegedly occurred in Atlantic City, Mays Landing and Camden County
A man accused of sexually assaulting a young relative over several years beginning when she was 5 was ordered held in jail this week.
Hassan Hameen, 47, allegedly abused the girl “hundreds of times” from the ages of 5 to 16, while living in various towns, including Atlantic City and Mays Landing.
The now-adult victim went to Hamilton Township police in May, armed with audio recordings in which Hameen admitted to the sexual acts, claiming the girl played a part, according to information released during his detention hearing.
“Did you not play a part?” Hameen allegedly said in excerpts quoted in the affidavit of probable cause.
“You never said stop,” he allegedly told her in one recording. “You never said stop.”
Hameen referenced incidents at a home in Massachusetts Avenue in Atlantic City and Oak Crest Estates in Mays Landing.
He faces nine charges, including two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault.
The victim is now in her 20s. Due to the age of the case, it is not subject to the Jessica Lunsford Act, which carries a potential sentence of 25 years to life for victims of sexual assault who are younger than 13. The act took effect in 2014.
In ordering Hameen held, Judge Pam D’Arcy noted that he made incriminating statements.
“The court finds them to be chilling statements,” she said. “One thing the court really noted is that he takes no ownership for the sexual assaults of (the) child, instead placing the blame on the victim.”
Hameen now lives in Sicklerville, Camden County, with his wife and two children, working for the Atlantic City CRDA, his attorney told the judge.
The ages and genders of the children were not given in court. But Assistant Prosecutor Tiffany DeGrandmaison said that the Division of Child Protection and Permanency is involved.
Defense attorney Fayyaz Ahmed presented several character letters to the court on Hameen’s behalf.
In acknowledging the outpouring, the judge noted that the crimes Hameen is charged with are things “one would not admit to a friend or a relative.”
“I have no doubt that these are decent people,” D’Arcy said of those who wrote letters. “And they have no understanding what happened when he was alone with this child.”
D’Arcy also took issue with the defense’s presentation that Hameen’s criminal history is old, with two non-violent crimes in 1996 and 1998.
“He has not been law-abiding for long periods of time because — according to the victim and he corroborated her — this was an 11-year period of multiple acts of sexual assault,” D’Arcy said. “So he has not been law-abiding in fact.”
Hameen will now remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
