Saudi Man Convicted Of Sex Abuse
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Jeremy P. Meyer, Denver Post, July 1, 2006
Arapahoe County—An Indonesian woman wept and plugged fingers into her ears to shield the sounds of wailing family and friends of the man found guilty Friday afternoon of sexual abuse.
Homaidan Al-Turki, 37, of Saudi Arabia, who lives in Aurora, was initially charged with kidnapping and sexual assault. But after a day of deliberation, the jury convicted Al-Turki on reduced charges of false imprisonment and unlawful sexual contact, as well as the original charges of theft and criminal extortion.
Al-Turki, a linguistics doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado at Boulder, now faces up to life in prison at his sentencing Aug. 31.
Authorities say for four years Al-Turki kept the 24-year-old Indonesian woman as a slave in the family home, forcing her to cook and clean and take care of the family and their five children with little pay. Prosecutors say Al-Turki eventually intimidated the woman into sex acts that culminated in her rape in late 2004.
The defense said many of the allegations were simply misconstrued cultural differences, or what attorney John Richilano called “cynical Islamaphobia.”
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(Posted on July 3, 2006)