The disturbing case of Michael Fahmy, a sexual predator who spent 20 years preying on Coptic Orthodox girls

Michael Fahmy, sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and sexual assault, and his wife, Sally Adel. Photo credit: Social media reproduction.

 CAIRO - Inside the peaceful walls of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, a booklet entitled "High School in the Hands of Christ" often caught the attention of the youth. Its green cover page displayed a drawing of Jesus washing the feet of a blond child, with the author's name, "Dr Michael Fahmy," printed below.

 The booklet was distributed across Egypt for almost a decade, from 2013 to 2020, as a source of spiritual guidance. On the second page, a photograph captured the author’s strong ties with his religious community and the Church, showing him and his wife, Sally Adel, standing alongside Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria.

 Fahmy was a well-respected figure in the community, providing psychiatric treatment to school-going children, particularly girls, suffering from mental health issues. He became a familiar face on national television and amassed a significant following, with numerous donations pouring in for his work.

 Promoted as a "free prescription for the treatment of anxiety" on Christian websites, "High School in the Hands of Christ" included a quiz on its final pages to assist children in identifying if they needed psychological help. However, the booklet did not provide any test results, instead urging children to call the number provided to obtain them.

 The number belonged to Fahmy, who promptly informed those who contacted him that they were indeed in need of professional help. Along with his wife, he welcomed many of these children into their home in Heliopolis, Cairo, where they would receive intensive care.

 But in 2020, everything changed. Six young girls who had stayed with Fahmy and Adel formally accused them of kidnapping and sexual assault, causing shock and disbelief within the community. Many struggled to reconcile the accusations against the kind and devoted couple they had known. However, for some, the accusations were not entirely unexpected.

 Members of the Church had been attempting to expose Fahmy on social media for years, using his initials in their posts to denounce him and his wife.

 "When someone from the Church wrote about him to warn people, Fahmy used to blackmail and attack them," Egyptian dentist and women's rights activist Gehad Hamdy told the Insider.

 Hamdy played an active role in pressuring authorities to take action on the case. She had recently founded Speak Up, a feminist organisation that exposes violence against women and helps victims find free legal and psychological assistance. The organisation has flourished over the past couple of years with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers, and Hamdy's campaigns have been recognised on numerous occasions.

 In 2022, she won the equal rights and non-discrimination award at the World Justice Forum and was listed by the BBC as one of the world's 100 most influential women. This international recognition encouraged her to speak exclusively to the Insider about the details of the case against Fahmy, who she considers to be one of the most infamous sexual predators ever to be exposed in Egypt.

 "He is sadistic. He is believed to have tens of victims, as he has been dealing with minors since 2001," Hamdy told us.

 According to her, Fahmy used to silence members of the clergy who spoke about his actions with the help of a group of young boys from the choir he led. She had access to leaked text and voice messages between Fahmy and the boys, where he instructed them to create fake accounts and spam the posts against him.

 In 2014, Bishop Raphael, the Bishop-General of Downtown Cairo Churches, used his Twitter account to hint at the presence of a sexual predator within the community.

 He wrote, "When we know that someone is pretending to be a therapist and a servant in the youth bishopric, getting invited to Christian churches, then using all of this to hurt little girls and control the mind of some young people to become his followers, to the extent of pushing them to stand against their own parents, how can I warn people of such a person without hurting them?"

 In the comments section, many users identified the bishop spoke about Fahmy.

 Over the years, more than one of his victims told her confession priest about what they went through and sought help from the Church. A group of them sent Pope Tawadros II a CD containing evidence and testimonials, but there was no reaction until a Coptic conference that took place months later.

 "A girl approached him in front of all the attendees and asked him, 'Do you know about the files we sent about M.F?' He answered yes, but nothing happened," said Hamdy.

 In 2018, Mina Magdy, a poet known in the ecclesiastical community, made a more direct and detailed statement on his Facebook page, affirming that Fahmy persuaded many of his victims into believing that the only way to cure their mental illness was through enema administrations. After being injected with an unknown substance, Magdy said the victims couldn't move or defend themselves against the assaults.

 Following the poet's post, members of the Coptic community arranged a meeting between some of the girls and the Pope, at which they confirmed that they were persuaded to leave their families and move in with Fahmy and his wife in exchange for being cured of psychological disorders.

 They also revealed that they had to transfer money to Sally Adel's bank account as payment for the phony therapeutic sessions and that she was fully aware of and complicit in her husband's criminal activities.

 Pope Tawadros II promised to contact a lawyer and requested written testimonies from them, along with their names and national numbers, but nothing came of it.

 "After that, individual movements began to take place in churches, with many of them hanging Fahmy's picture as a person who was forbidden to enter. There were also warnings from bishops in various Egyptian governorates," Hamdy explained.

 Despite that, the Pope and the bishops withdrew from testifying when the case went to court. "For the authorities, that meant the Church supported him," she continued.

 That assumption posed a serious risk to the Christian minority in Egypt, and obtaining an official statement from Pope Tawadros II became a top priority.

 During the Covid-19 lockdown, the Church conducted weekly live transmissions with the Pope. One day, a woman shared the link of one of these transmissions on Speak Up's Facebook group and asked the members to flood the comments section with questions for the Pope regarding Fahmy and their relationship.

 When the Pope noticed the comments, he skipped the part where he was supposed to answer questions and immediately began his speech. The women continued to make hundreds of comments until he finally said something.

 "Don't be misled by the fact that he served in certain areas or that he had some pictures with us in the past. Don't be fooled by the pictures. Because it has been proven that he made a mistake more than once, those who have been abused must report the incidents. He is not permitted to serve in the Church again or to give speeches," he stated before moving on to the next topic.

 "We took a screen recording of it and added it to the case files. The girls were fantastic," said Hamdy.

 Fahmy surrendered in March 2021 and remained in prison during the investigation. He had his first trial in June and his second trial in September of the same year. Two months later, on 9 Nov., he was sentenced to life in prison.

 The Insider gained access to information from the case files, which were described to us by attorney Michael Raouf, who works with Speak Up to provide free legal assistance to victims.

 According to him, most of the young boys who helped Fahmy intimidate people on social media had no idea what he was up to.

 “Even if some did, they weren't part of a known plan between Fahmy and them to bring him more victims, for example, so they weren't officially charged,” he told us.

 Sally Adel, on the other hand, was arrested in March 2021 alongside her husband. However, after Fahmy testified that she had no involvement in his crimes, she was found innocent and released in November of that year. The prosecution has objected to the court's decision, so a new trial is expected.

 "She will have a new trial. All of the money her husband took was in her bank account. Besides that, Fahmy and Adel also face another accusation of scamming and stealing money,” said Hamdy.

 Fahmy is one of many sexual predators permanently listed on the Wall of Shame on Speak Up's website. As we celebrate International Women's Day, the organisation hopes that the bravery of victims, witnesses, and activists involved in this successful campaign will encourage others to stand up for perpetrator accountability.

 Moving forward, Speak Up aims to expand the reach of its initiative in Egypt by launching specialised awareness campaigns that will tackle local issues. The organisation also plans to introduce a blog on its website, providing a platform for contributors to share professional pieces on a variety of topics relating to sexual and reproductive health, legal matters, harassment, and general awareness.

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Speak Up's founder Gehad Hamdy, listed by the BBC as one of the world's 100 most influential women. Photo credit: Gehad Hamdy's personal archive.
Speak Up is an Egyptian feminist organisation that exposes violence against women and helps victims find free legal and psychological support. Photo credit: Speak Up.

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