Jury finds Saudi airman guilty in sex assault case

A jury found a Saudi Arabian air force sergeant guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy at a Las Vegas hotel last New Year's Eve.
Mazen Alotaibi could face a sentence of 35 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said yesterday the 24-year-old forced the boy into sex in a bathroom at the Circus Circus hotel.
Alotaibi didn't testify. He told police the boy consented to sex for marijuana or money.
His defense lawyer said Alotaibi was too intoxicated after drinking all night at a strip club to know if he was doing anything wrong.
Nevada state law says a child under 16 can't give consent.

Alotaibi was convicted of two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14, two counts of lewdness with a child under 14 and one count of kidnapping. He also was convicted of felony burglary for entering a building with intent to commit a crime, and of misdemeanor coercion.

He was acquitted of two lesser counts involving lewdness. Alotaibi has been held for more than nine months in jail on USD 1.7 million bail.
The boy testified that he approached Alotaibi and other men early Dec. 31 because he smelled marijuana on their clothes and wanted pot.
The jury heard that Alotaibi smoked marijuana with the boy outside the hotel and asked the boy for sex. Alotaibi was seen on elevator surveillance video leaning down and apparently kissing the boy's neck on the way to the hotel room. The boy is seen running back to the elevator about 30 minutes later.

In a hotel room bathroom, Alotaibi blocked the door, offered the boy USD 150 then doubled the amount, and forced him into oral and anal sex, the boy testified.