Melbourne man, 34, pleads guilty to marrying 14-year-old
A Melbourne man has pleaded guilty to entering a marriage with a 14-year-old bride.
Mohammad Shakir, 34, is charged with going through a formal ceremony of marriage with a person not of marriageable age at Noble Park last September.
As part of the plea, two charges were withdrawn by prosecutors in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, including allegations Shakir had sex with the girl between September 30 and October 1, 2016, following their wedding.
A Melbourne man has pleaded guilty to entering a marriage with a 14-year-old bride (stock image)
The ceremony was conducted in Noble Park by former imam Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, who also faces charges relating to the illegal marriage.
He will front court in May for a contested hearing.
Omerdic, former imam of the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque, was stood down after his November arrest and later sacked.
'A new Imam has been appointed. Omerdic is no longer the Imam of the Noble Park Mosque and has no role with the Society,' a Noble Park Mosque statement read at the time.
The girl is in a 'fragile state' and has 'ongoing health issues', prosecutor Ranjani Padmanabhan told Melbourne Magistrates Court in February.
The ceremony was conducted in Noble Park by former imam Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, (pictured) who also faces charges relating to the illegal marriage