Said Tossi, a reputed Quran reciter in Iran with close links to the Shiite country's top leadership, has been accused of raping as many as 19 children.
The 46-year old scholar, whose name is also spelt as Saeed Toosi, is Iran's representative at the International Quranic competitions. Some media reports called him the favourite Quran reciter of supreme spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Iran's judiciary officials have said Tossi's case was passed to an expert judge to decide and rule and that four victims have already filed formal complaints against the celebrated reciter, Al Arabiya reported.
The court has charged Tossi with "advocating corruptions," Gholam Hussein Mohsseni Aaiiji said, amid doubts raised in the media if Iranian leadership will prosecute an insider like Tossi for the grave crimes he allegedly committed.
Iranian officials have said the trial will not be made public, the report added. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories circulating in the media said the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution might assassinate Tossi in order to prevent him from making damaging revelations.
Tossi has denied all the charges leveled against him and reportedly threatened to leak the names of scores of high profile Iranian officials who have been implicated in child rape charges, the report said.
Victims reveal how Tossi snared them
Following Tossi's denial of charges, audio testimonies by the victims in which they talk about how Tossi raped them when he was overseeing their Quran recital classes, emerged.
According to the Persian News Network, Tossi "raped seven of his students aged between 12 [and] 14, during the past seven years." At least three of Tossi's accusers are male students.
The Voice of America reported that several sexual molestation charges were raised against Tossi four years ago. Though he was initially indicted, the prominent scholar, who has performed in the presence of Khamenei many times, was later let off the hook.
"He touched my body while we were on the flight. He molested me," a young malke victim said in a testimony, according to audio released by VOR.
"When we arrived at the hotel, we were supposed to get separate rooms but he organised for us to get one room. I was only 12 years old. He betrayed me. While I was taking shower, he came in naked. I was in shock, I couldn't scream, my mind was locked. He did his thing," the boy, who was 12 years at the time of the incident, said.
