DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – The aunt of a 16-year-old girl who ran away from the Vista Maria facility in Dearborn Heights and was missing for nearly six weeks says seeing the face and learning the name of the 62-year-old man the teen had allegedly been staying with made the situation painfully real.
When Local 4 asked the girl’s aunt how she felt hearing of a grown man allegedly harboring and sexually assaulting the runaway teenager, she was direct:
“Anybody who is willing to do that with any child I think they’re the lowest of the low,” she said. “Honestly, I believe in the death penalty, and that’s what they all should get.”
Kamal Abou Darwiche, 62, according to investigators, took the teen to his apartment in Dearborn Heights after she fled Vista Maria on March 14, 2025. She was found safe on April 23 inside his apartment near Inkster Road and Warren Avenue.
Court documents state Darwiche had a prior conviction and is now facing multiple charges:
• Child sexually abusive activity, a 20-year felony
• Delivery of marijuana to a minor, an eight-year felony
• Harboring a runaway, a one-year misdemeanor
Darwiche is charged with a Tier II offense under the Sex Offender Registration Act because he has a prior conviction, according to court documents.
He is also accused of giving the teen marijuana and concealing her after she fled from the custody of her legal guardian.
The charges, announced on June 10, have not yet resulted in an arraignment.
Dearborn Heights Police said Darwiche, from Lebanon, is currently in ICE custody for overstaying his visa.
Police said a WRIT is underway so he can be transferred to Wayne County.
They’re working with Homeland Security and the prosecutor’s office to coordinate around Darwiche’s immigration violation investigation to get Darwiche arraigned “as soon as possible.”
Chief Ahmed Haidar, with the Dearborn Heights Police Department, said their efforts throughout this case have been focused, and they are not pulling back now.
“This case required significant resources -- a lot of search warrants, a lot of manpower, a lot of time, a lot of outside agencies,” said Chief Haidar. “At some point in time, we thought she might have not been with us; there was no phone activity, no tips were coming in. The case went cold. So we reached out to the media. We reached out to the community, all the social platforms, and three days later, we had her. Now we have him, felony charges, and deportation.”
An arraignment for Darwiche is expected once the writ is completed, and this is anticipated to occur “in the coming days,” according to the police.
“I want to see a trial, and then he gets deported,” the teen’s aunt said. “Because I fear that if [Darwiche] just gets shipped back… he just gets to wander and do whatever over there.”
Meanwhile, the teen’s aunt said her niece has “changed for the better” since the ordeal.
She said the teen is no longer at Vista Maria and is staying at a facility in Grand Rapids.
“She’s not as reserved where she was trying to, at Vista Maria, choose her words carefully. She seems more open to talk now.”
When asked what she hopes the community can learn from her niece’s case, she said Even if a teen is troubled or known as ‘a fibber,’ please listen.
“Because sometimes there is truth in it,” she said. “If they’re saying that there’s somewhere that’s unsafe, look into it, so that they’re not in the situation that my niece was in.” accountable.”