Ehab Moustafa Ghoneim sexually abused boys he lured to his home in Pinellas Park, Florida. Authorities said he offered a so-called “million dollar pill” and abused the children in their sleep. (Mugshot: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)
A 52-year-old Florida man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually abused boys.
Ehab Moustafa Ghoneim will also be required to register as a sex offender and also serve two years of probation, records show. He was charged with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of lewd or lascivious molestation.
The complaint affidavit described him luring boys to his home in Pinellas Park, Florida, between 2018 and 2020 and sexually abusing them in their sleep. Pinellas Park is 20 miles west of Tampa.
Ghoneim offered what he called a “million dollar pill,” claiming it would clear out the immune system and help the child sleep, documents state.
“During the controlled call, Ehab Ghoneim stated that he sleeps on the floor now and that people think he is weird for hanging out with kids,” stated the heavily redacted affidavit. “Ehab Ghoneim acknowledged that he heard rumors around the [redacted] about him providing pills to children. Ehab Ghoneim stated the pills were just vitamins.”
He was a youth program leader at the Islamic Society of the Tampa Bay Area, according to CBS Tampa Bay affiliate WTSP.
“He got off easy,” Ghoneim’s nephew Nour Elsayed told the news agency. “Part of me is upset that he got off easy, and part of me is also happy that he is serving some type of time.”
He said Ghoneim drugged and sexually abused him after abruptly moving in with his family in St. Petersburg.
“He would give me these ‘sleeping pills,’ and I would have crazy dreams,” said Elsayed in a May 24, 2022, report.
Documents describe Ghoneim engaging in similar abuse toward boys.
Elsayed said he did not know the other boys who stepped forward. His allegations did not result in any charges in the Pinellas case.
Pinellas Park Police Sgt. John Shea, whose department investigated the charges in Wednesday’s guilty plea, told the outlet last year that his agency can only recommend charges regarding Ghoneim’s Pinellas Park home.
Other law enforcement agencies were investigating, he said.
“Throughout your Affidant’s investigation of Ehab Ghoneim, your Affiant confirmed at least three more minor victims of unlawful sexual activity by Ehab Ghoneim in other jurisdictions in Florida and in Atlanta, GA,” authorities wrote.