Convicted child sexual predator arrested for rape of 12-year-old girl in Washington state

A convicted child sex offender who is known to prey on victims as young as 11 years old has been taken into custody on child rape charges in Washington state. Suliman Abdul-Hadi, 24, of Vancouver, has been accused of giving alcohol to a 12-year-old girl before sexually assaulting her, according to a press release from the Vancouver Police Department.

Abdul-Hadi, who uses the alias "Suli," was arrested on July 18 and booked into the Clark County Jail for second-degree rape of a child, third-degree rape of a child, communication with a minor for immoral purposes, supplying liquor to minors, disorderly conduct, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and failure to register as a sex offender, according to court filings.

Court documents state that the 12-year-old victim was brought to a hospital on July 11 for a sexual assault exam. The minor told authorities that a male suspect had purchased alcohol for her and another unidentified 15-year-old girl, and then raped them. This allegedly occurred on more than one occasion, the victim said.

Investigators learned the man was Abdul-Hadi, a level III sex offender who is on GPS monitoring and restricted from being around minors, and launched an investigation.

On July 18, Vancouver police executed a search warrant at Abdul-Hadi's residence located in the 2900 block of NE 143rd Avenue in Vancouver. The defendant attempted to flee the residence but was confronted by a police K9 team and taken into custody. VPD received assistance from an Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS), detectives from the Children's Justice Center/Elder Justice Center, Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit (DECU), and the Crime Reduction Unit (CRU).

Vancouver police first reported his apprehension on July 24. He has a identifiable tattoo on his right forearm that includes the word "Blessed."

Court records show that Abdul-Hadi is a repeat criminal sex offender with charges and allegations dating back to 2016, when he was a juvenile. During that year, he was accused of sexually assaulting a male student at St. John's Military School in Kansas. In 2020, Abdul-Hadi was convicted in Washington state of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and third-degree rape of a child.

On May 6, 2024, Abdul-Hadi pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender and was subsequently sentenced to 30 days in jail, 30 days of work crew, and 12 months of probation, court records show. He failed to inform his parole officer when he moved into his home on 143rd Avenue, resulting in the online sex offender registry not being updated, according to court documents.

This investigation remains ongoing, and detectives believe there may be several other minor victims. Authorities said Abdul-Hadi targets young girls between the ages of 11 and 17. Anyone who may have had contact with Abdul-Hadi or further information is encouraged to contact Detective LeAnn Cone at leann.cone@cityofvancouver.us and/or Sgt. Zachary Ripp at zachary.ripp@cityofvancouver.us.