Saudi man gets 20 years to life, denies enslaving nanny

[frigidmagi]

Rocky Mountain News

CENTENNIAL — A Saudi man convicted of sexually assaulting his Indonesian housekeeper was sentenced this morning to 20 years to life in prison.

Homaidan Al-Turki, 37, was also given an 8-year sentence on theft charges that will be served consecutively.

Al-Turki denied in Arapahoe County District court that he enslaved the woman and said authorities were prejudiced against him.

"Your honor, I am not here to apologize, for I cannot apologize for things I did not do and for crimes I did not commit," he told Judge Mark Hannen.

Al-Turki was convicted in July of 12 felony counts of unlawful sexual contact with use of force, one felony count of criminal extortion and one felony count of theft. He also was found guilty of two misdemeanors: false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

Deputies surrounded the packed courtroom and many of Al-Turki’s family cried after the hearing.

Prosecutors said Al-Turki brought the victim from Saudia Arabia in 2000 to work as his family’s nanny and housekeeper. Al-Turki is married and has five children.

Al-Turki allegedly took the woman’s passport and sexually abused her.

"This is a clear cut example of human trafficking," Prosecutor Natalie Decker said outside the courtroom. "It’s important he is put in prison."

Al-Turki worked as a linguist at a Denver publishing and translating company and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado.

Al-Turki’s wife, Sarah Khonaizan received a 60-day jail sentence and five years of probation when she pleaded guilty earlier this month to stealing from the housekeeper. She is expected to return to Saudi Arabia after serving her sentence.

Al-Turki also faces federal charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an immigrant. That case is scheduled to start in October.

A conservation with a friend pointed something out to me that makes me think. According to Sharia he said, sex with a slave is not rape but perfectly moral no matter the slave's opinion of it. Thoughts?

[Hotfoot]

Makes perfect sense. After all, if you justify slavery, you can easily justify rape of a slave. After all, a slave is someone who you force to work for you, you effectively own them, like property. You'd be in your rights to destroy it, after all, so sex is almost a trivial thing. Why should sex be a problem, I mean you're letting them live and serve you. They should worship the ground you walk on.

The more of these bastards that go down, the better.

The prosecutor's name makes me wonder, was INTERPOL involved in this?

[Ace Pace]

I thought Interpol was somehow involved in any case that involved forign nationals?

[frigidmagi]

Not necessarly the US prefers to handle crimes that happen within it's borders on its own. Interpol however may have been contacted to see if Al-Turki had warrents out in other nations.