A recently resettled Afghan refugee who was featured on a news broadcast when he arrived in the United States has been arrested and charged for an alleged sexual assault.
Police want Matiullah Matie to be charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, according to WSAW.
Matie allegedly sexually assaulted a female who was helping his family resettle.
He has been on television twice, describing his experience as a refugee from Afghanistan who was relocated to the United States. WSAW featured Matie on its cable news station on January 24 and again on January 31, just days before the alleged assault occurred.
During the January 24 segment, WSAW’s Emily Davis interviewed Matie.
“If you know nothing about Afghan culture, when you come to the Matie home, you will quickly learn hospitality is very important,” she says in the segment.
She described Matie as a businessman, political analyst, and tribal leader in his native Afghanistan who “worked alongside numerous U.S. government agencies in Afghanistan.” He spoke out against the Taliban publicly, which is why he was eventually resettled in the United States after President Joe Biden’s sloppy withdrawal of American troops, citizens, and assets in the summer of 2021.
He said the Taliban killed his older brother and oldest daughter a few months before the United States’ withdrawal in late August.
His family was resettled in Wausau at the end of 2021.
“After months of living as a refugee, he is eager to begin working to serve his community and his family, as he did before,” the report concluded.
In September of 2021, shortly after arriving in the United States and being moved to Fort McCoy near Madison, two Afghan refugees were charged with child sex and domestic abuse.
Two weeks ago, an Afghan refugee was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, responsible for refugee resettlement, referred The Wisconsin Daily Star to local law enforcement.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Wisconsin Daily Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
