Ex-Saudi airman gets life in prison in rape case

Clark County District Judge Stefany Miley on Wednesday morning handed down a sentence of life in prison for Mazen Alotaibi. He will be eligible for parole after 35 years.

The attack happened Dec. 31, 2012, in a bathroom at the Strip resort.

As the victim’s mother fought through tears to speak to the court about the “nightmare” her family has endured since that New Year’s Eve, Alotaibi peeked around his lawyer, Las Vegas-based Dominic Gentile, to get a look at her before returning his gaze to the floor.

She told the court her son is in a dark place and “speaks about dying almost every day.”

“He wants to die. He wants to kill himself because he doesn’t think anybody cares or loves him anymore,” the mother said. “It’s like he’s given up on life. He doesn’t care what happens to him.”

Alotaibi, dressed in standard navy prison garb, stood emotionless, twirling the chain of his cuffs between his fingers as Miley read the sentence. He barely lifted his eyes from the floor as the judge spoke.

In October, Alotaibi was found guilty of one count each of first-degree kidnapping, burglary and coercion and two counts each of sexual assault with a minor under 14 and lewdness with a child under 14.

The jury acquitted Alotaibi, 25, of two other counts of lewdness with a child under 14, which were alternative charges to the two sexual assault counts.

The victim’s mother said that she was satisfied with the sentencing and that she hopes Alotaibi “stays in prison and rots in hell.”

And while she said she and her family got the justice they wanted, the struggle for them as they deal with the emotional damage continues.

“My son is scarred for life. For him, it’s forever. There is no ending to that.”