Man, 61, Is Charged With Sex Abuse of Autistic Boy

A 61-year-old Montgomery County man was charged with sexual abuse of an 11-year-old autistic child whom police said he fondled and photographed, authorities said yesterday.

Abdul Mohamed Kudsy of the 3200 block of Hewitt Avenue in Silver Spring was being held in the county jail and faces two counts of third-degree sexual offense and one count of sexual abuse, according to District Court records. Records say he fondled the 11-year-old more than once and took a picture of him with his camera phone while the boy's pants and underwear were at his knees.

Online court records show Kudsy did not have an attorney as of yesterday.

According to police, the 11-year-old's family retained Kudsy's services in September through Rockville-based Children Achieving Maximum Potential Inc., or Champ. In December, one of the boy's parents called the organization and said the youth told his family of the abuse.

"We take this kind of thing very seriously," Kim De Jong, a co-founder of the group, said yesterday. Champ immediately reported the allegations to county officials and told Kudsy not to return to work, De Jong said.

She said that Kudsy was a part-time employee and that the 11-year-old was the only client with whom he worked through her organization.

Previously, Kudsy worked for about 12 years at Montgomery-based Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children. Executive Director Ian Paregol said Kudsy worked with adults as a job coach at work sites.

"We're confident nothing happened when he worked for us," said Paregol, who described Kudsy as mild-mannered. "It's very surprising if the allegations are true. He didn't have issues of this sort when he worked for us."

Police asked that anyone who has information related to the case or Kudsy call 240-773-5422.