Ibrahim Alawi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Many parents in the city breathed a sigh of relief after the Jeddah General Court handed down the death sentence to a pedophile who had a long history of kidnapping and raping young girls. The man, known as “the human wolf,” was found guilty of raping eight girls between the ages of six and 12 years. Some of his victims were abducted while they were out with their families shopping while others were taken from outside of wedding halls. The man, who is a schoolteacher and father of five, allegedly took the girls home, beat them and then sexually assaulted them. The public prosecutor demanded the court hand down the harshest penalty. A judicial committee, which was chaired by two judges, looked into the list of charges against the schoolteacher and the evidence against him and found him guilty of abduction and rape. It was also revealed that some of the girls were forced to consume alcohol and watch pornographic clips with the man. He would later drop them off in remote locations. Evidence against him included DNA tests, medical reports issued by doctors who examined the victims and the testimonies of the minor victims. In one instance, the man was captured by a surveillance camera while he was trying to abduct a girl from a mall. The man was caught when his last victim gave police a detailed description of how he looked. She was even able to accurately show the officers the street in Al-Ajaweed neighborhood where the man's house was located and identify it. Victims also identified the man's car and showed police how he forced them to sit cross-legged on the floor of the front passenger's seat so no one would notice them. When police finally arrested the man, they asked him to wear his headgear the way he usually does and he wore it the same way the victims had described. Commenting on the court's decision, lawyer Sayer Al-Keraithi said the man deserves the harshest sentence for taking advantage of innocent girls and committing heinous crimes. Earlier, some legal experts believed that the schoolteacher was innocent and wrongly framed in the case. Legal consultant Omar Al-Kholi had demanded the immediate release of the 43-year-old Saudi teacher. In an exclusive interview with the Jeddah-based Al-Bilad daily a few months ago, Al-Kholi expressed resentment over the way the man had been treated. “I am reminded of the case of an innocent victim who was detained for a long period over the same charges and was only released after the teacher was arrested. I am almost certain that there is no hard evidence against the alleged rapist,” said Al-Kholi, a professor of law at King Abdulaziz University. “As for the pictures published in newspapers of his house, this is not hard evidence. I accuse police of damaging the reputation of the man and his family. All available evidence so far shows that he is not guilty and the pictures do not prove anything,” he was quoted as saying at the time. Al-Kholi went on to claim the photos had been leaked on purpose so a guilty verdict could be reached before the man even appears in court. Rumors also began to spread that an anonymous Saudi businessman was going to give generous compensation to families of the victims. Al-Kholi said this drove many people to come forward with unsubstantiated rape claims. He called on the authorities to deal with such cases in total secrecy to protect sensitive information from leaking to the media and avoid prejudicing trials. Al-Kholi continues to believe the real rapist is still at large. “There have been at least 25 cases of rape committed against children since the arrest of the schoolteacher.” The schoolteacher's mother has maintained her son is innocent. In an earlier interview published in the local media, his wife said she had full confidence in her husband and would stand by him.
