Saudi Air Force sergeant in the United States for training arrested for child rape in Las Vegas

Get all these foreigners out of our Country, we have enough of our own problems!

File-This file photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Mazen Alotaibi, 23, a sergeant in Saudi Arabia’s air force who was arrested Dec. 31, 2012, in Las Vegas on charges that he pulled a teenage boy into Las Vegas Strip hotel room and sexually assaulted him. An evidence hearing will be postponed while a defense attorney seeks bail for Alotaibi facing a child sex assault charge in Las Vegas. The prosecutor and defense attorney say a Thursday court date will be reset for Alotaibi. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department,File)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A Saudi Air Force sergeant in the United States for training has been arrested on child sexual assault charges over accusations he raped a 13-year-old boy in a Las Vegas hotel, and bail was set on Friday at just over $1.2 million, authorities said.

Mazen Alotaibi is accused of raping the boy on New Year's Eve at the Circus Circus hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, where both Alotaibi and the boy were guests, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said that Alotaibi, 23, had been visiting Las Vegas while temporarily stationed at Lackland Air Force base in Texas.

The man's defense lawyer said his client had been in Las Vegas with a group of Saudi military friends ahead of the impending end of his U.S. training, and had spent the hours before the incident drinking.

"He was two weeks from graduating. He came to Las Vegas to celebrate. It was New Year's Eve," the attorney, Don Chairez, told Reuters, complaining that Alotaibi was intoxicated when he was interrogated by police and that he admitted he may have had sexual contact with the boy only under aggressive questioning.

"There is no evidence my client dragged this kid to the hotel room," Chairez said, adding that the boy had approached the Saudi group looking to buy marijuana. "They repeatedly tried to get rid of him."

A court clerk said that bail was set for Alotaibi at more than $1.2 million on Friday on charges including child sexual assault and coercion.

Las Vegas media reported that the judge ordered that Alotaibi surrender his passport and remain in the United States if he posts bail. He could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges, his lawyer said.

(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Bob Burgdorfer)

Lawyer to seek release of Saudi air force sergeant

By KEN RITTER

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A defense attorney said Thursday he'll ask a judge to allow the release of a Saudi Arabia air force sergeant jailed since New Year's Eve on allegations that he pulled a 13-year-old boy into a Las Vegas Strip hotel room and raped him.

Mazen Alotaibi stood in blue jail garb, slippers and shackles, staring at the courtroom floor and listening with an Arabic translator while local lawyer John Parris stood in for defense attorney Don Chairez.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Bill Kephart agreed to hold a bail hearing with Chairez and prosecutors on Friday. The judge postponed an evidence hearing until next month. He did not pick a specific date.

Alotaibi spoke only to acknowledge that he understood the proceedings and agreed to the delay.

Chairez, of Newport Beach, Calif., said in a telephone interview that he'll offer to have the 23-year-old aircraft mechanic surrender his Saudi diplomatic passport and stay in the U.S. if he's allowed to post $25,000 bail.

Prosecutor Mary Kay Holthus said prosecutors are seeking $1 million bail, surrender of Alotaibi's passport, house arrest and electronic monitoring pending trial.

Alotaibi plans to plead not guilty to all charges, Chairez said. The charges — kidnapping, two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14 years of age and felony sexual coercion — could get him decades in prison if he's convicted. Alotaibi also is charged with burglary, which in Nevada can stem from a person entering a building with intent to commit a felony.

Alotaibi is accused of forcing the boy into a sixth-floor room at the Circus Circus hotel and sexually assaulting him the morning before a New Year's Eve fireworks celebration on the Las Vegas Strip.

Police reported collecting DNA evidence from the boy, as well as a used condom and soiled towel from the bathroom where the boy said the attack took place. The boy lives out of state and was staying at the hotel with his family, police said.

Alotaibi produced a Saudi Arabian military identification showing he was stationed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland near San Antonio, Texas. Chairez said Alotaibi had been in the U.S. for about 18 months and was currently stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.

Alotaibi's diplomatic passport doesn't provide full diplomatic immunity from prosecution in criminal matters, Chairez said.

According to his arrest report, Alotaibi told investigators he arrived in Las Vegas early Dec. 31, went to a striptease club, drank cognac and was intoxicated. Police said he provided various accounts of the alleged encounter with the boy.

Chairez said he has spoken several times with Alotaibi and with Saudi government officials. Chairez said the Saudi government was funding Alotaibi's defense.

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Bail $1.22M for Saudi sergeant in Vegas rape case

By KEN RITTER

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Despite a defense attorney's complaints, a judge in Nevada set bail at $1.22 million Friday for a Saudi Arabia air force sergeant jailed since New Year's Eve after he was accused of pulling a 13-year-old boy into a Las Vegas Strip hotel room and raping him.

Defense attorney Don Chairez said his client, Mazen Alotaibi, "probably" could post what Chairez called the "extraordinarily high" bail, surrender his diplomatic passport and be freed pending an evidentiary hearing Jan. 31.

But Chairez said he'd recommend to Saudi authorities the 23-year-old aircraft mechanic remain in jail until a Jan. 31 evidentiary hearing. The money would be better spent investigating the charges and preparing Alotaibi's defense, Chairez said.

He alleged outside court that his client was treated unfairly by police because he was too drunk on cognac Dec. 31 to surrender his right to have a lawyer present during questioning.

"Somebody who's under the influence cannot give up his right to an attorney," Chairez contended.

Alotaibi stood in court with an Arabic language interpreter and said nothing while Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Bill Kephart called the allegations against him "appalling." The judge noted that if Alotaibi fled the country, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia do not have an extradition treaty to bring him back.

"I don't know the truth of either side here," said Kephart, who will make the decision whether to move the case to state court if there is enough evidence for trial. The judge noted that Alotaibi faces "substantial consequences" if convicted.

Alotaibi is accused of forcing the boy into a Circus Circus hotel room where as many as four other Saudi officers smoked cigarettes or marijuana the morning before a New Year's Eve fireworks celebration on the Las Vegas Strip.

Prosecutor Mary Kay Holthus said Alotaibi acknowledged during police questioning that he had sex with the boy, who Holthus said was accosted by Alotaibi while headed to meet a friend and go to a doughnut shop at 7:30 a.m.

The prosecutor said that even if the boy sought sex, Nevada state law says a child under age 16 cannot give consent.

"I don't see that this is just, 'No big deal. Get drunk and have fun,'" Holthus said. "The likelihood of conviction is tremendous."

Chairez told the judge the boy wanted marijuana and refused repeated attempts by the Saudi men to get him to leave their hotel room.

"I do not believe there was any force here," Chairez said. "This is not a forcible rape. At most, if there was any sexual contact, it was consensual."

Saudi Arabian information official Nail Al-Jubeir in Washington referred questions about Alotaibi's case to Chairez.

Police reported collecting DNA evidence, a used condom and soiled towel from the bathroom where the boy said the attack took place. The boy lives out of state and had been staying at the hotel with his family, police said.

Chairez has said Alotaibi will plead not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors added two lesser charges Friday alleging lewdness with a minor to the kidnapping, sexual assault with a minor, coercion and burglary charges that could put Alotaibi in prison for life if he is convicted.

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Find Ken Ritter at http://twitter.com/krttr