Playwright, 72, added to most-wanted list for fleeing sex-offense charges
Staff Report
A Somali poet and playwright has been added to Hennepin County’s 10-most-wanted list. Police say the 72-year-old man molested a 10-year-old girl a decade ago, then admitted it over the phone in an attempt to see the girl again.
According to the sheriff’s office, Mahamud Abdullahi Isse is still thought to be in the Minneapolis area.
Isse, known to his fans as Sangub, is a poet, playwright and actor known for speaking out on issues of peace, human rights and government corruption.
Isse was charged in January 2006 with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. A Somali-born woman, now in her 20s, told police that Isse molested her at her Minneapolis home in 1995, when she was 10.
The man she called “uncle” occasionally came to visit her guardian, bringing candy and treats, according to a criminal complaint.
Isse also climbed into her bed, fondled her and raped her, the complaint said. She moved to Washington state in 1997 but ran into Isse at the Somali Mall in Minneapolis in December 2005; he gave her his phone number and told her he would like to see her again, according to the complaint.
The woman called him and recorded a phone conversation in which he admitted having sex with her when she was a child, the complaint said.
Isse told police the conversation had taken place but it was a joke. He admitted he had fondled her when she was younger, the complaint said.
Isse did not show up for a court date in June. He is now wanted on a felony bench warrant citing charges of criminal sexual conduct. His bail has been set at $300,000.
He is described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 152 pounds, with brown eyes and balding black hair.
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