Teen testifies against man charged with his rape: ‘I felt I was trapped’

A teenage boy testified Monday that he just wanted to buy some marijuana when he was raped by a Royal Saudi Air Force sergeant in the bathroom of a Circus Circus hotel room on New Year’s Eve.

“I felt I was trapped in the corner,” the boy told a jury before describing how defendant Mazen Alotaibi forced him to perform oral and anal sex.

Alotaibi faces multiple counts, including two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14 and one count of kidnapping. The 24-year-old could face a life prison term if convicted.

Dressed in a suit, Alotaibi appeared stoic during the boy’s testimony. The trial was being translated for the defendant into his native Arabic.

The teen, who was 13 at the time of the incident, has grown 5 inches and added about 20 pounds since the new year. Then he was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 108 pounds, the boy said.

The Review-Journal generally does not publish the names of sexual assault victims without their permission.

The boy testified that he and Alotaibi at first went outside the hotel to smoke marijuana. He said that while in the elevator, Alotaibi leaned into him and kissed his neck. The boy said he felt awkward and “I knew something bad was going to happen.”

But he continued to follow Alotaibi up to his room, where the defendant offered to pay $150 for sex and then more, the boy said. He said he told Alotaibi he didn’t want the marijuana anymore and just wanted to leave. Then Alotaibi pulled down the boy’s pants and forced him to perform oral sex, the boy said.

He said Alotaibi pushed him onto the floor and raped him.

The boy finally pushed him away, put on his clothes and fled the room.

He said he was scared and embarrassed but told security at the hotel what happened because he was afraid he might have contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Security called Las Vegas police.

Defense lawyer Don Chairez tried to poke holes in the boy’s testimony by showing discrepancies between what he told the jury and what he told police at the time, suggesting that the boy was coached by prosecutors.

The boy originally told authorities he was dragged into Alotaibi’s hotel room but testified Monday that he went to the room willingly.

Chairez also tried to show the sexual encounter was consensual because the boy didn’t scratch or hit Alotaibi.

The boy replied, “I tried to back away. Keep away.”

Circus Circus security staff also testified Monday.

They showed surveillance footage that corroborated part of the boy’s testimony, including when Alotaibi leaned into him while they were on an elevator.

As the boy left the room, the surveillance footage showed him running to the elevator. Prosecutors suggested he was running from the room, but Chairez said the boy could have been running to catch the elevator as the doors were closing.

The trial was expected to last all week. Prosecutors planned to present DNA evidence as well as a video statement that Alotaibi made to police.

In the statement, Alotaibi said he was drinking Hennessy cognac all night and was drunk when he met the boy. At first he denied the allegations but later admitted he put his penis in the boy’s mouth and rectum.

Alotaibi remained jailed at the Clark County Detention Center on $1.4 million bail, jail records show.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.