AURORA | A Saudi national convicted and jailed nearly two decades ago for imprisoning and sexually abusing his housekeeper in Aurora was re-sentenced Tuesday and is now set to be deported.
Homaidan Al-Turki, 56, pleaded guilty to 11 amended counts of attempted unlawful sexual contact involving physical force and was sentenced to six years on each count, to be served concurrently. The sentence, already completed because of his time served, led to his release from state prison and transfer to ICE agents for immediate deportation to Saudi Arabia.
“Returning this convicted felon and sex offender to his home country ensures he will not be able to prey on anyone else in our community,” 18th Judicial District Attorney Amy Padden said in a statement.
Al-Turki was originally accused of holding his Indonesian-born housekeeper captive in the basement of his Aurora home and repeatedly molesting her between 2000 and 2004. He was convicted in 2006 of multiple charges, including false imprisonment, extortion, and felony sexual contact involving force, and he received a sentence of 28 years to life in prison, the Sentinel reported in 2006.
Al-Turki, a linguist, who attended Colorado State University, was living in Aurora when he was indicted by an Arapahoe County grand jury in 2005. He was charged with repeatedly raping his housekeeper, but the jury convicted him on a lesser charge of unlawful sexual contact.
Prosecutors allege the housekeeper spent four years cooking and cleaning for the al-Turki family while sleeping on a mattress on the basement floor and getting paid less than $2 a day. Al-Turki was accused of hiding her passport in an effort to keep her captive.
He denied the allegations, saying he was a victim of anti-Muslim sentiment, stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The case garnered international attention and reportedly angered Saudi authorities at the time. It prompted the U.S. State Department to send then-Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to Saudi Arabia to meet with royal leaders and al-Turki’s family after al-Turki’s conviction.
Al-Turki’s lawyers have repeatedly argued that al-Turki refused to participate in a mandated Colorado prison sex-offender program. Al-Turki said his refusal was religiously based because it required him to look at photos of women in bathing suits or undergarments. He also said he would be forced to confess to his crimes, which lawyers said he could not do because he was then challenging his conviction.
Saudi officials at the time said their sex-offender program would involve al-Turki’s family and would incorporate religious and cultural education, which they said could not happen in Colorado.
Despite becoming eligible for parole in 2011, Al-Turki remained imprisoned after continuing to refuse to participate in the Colorado mandated sex-offender treatment programs.
Over the years, he has filed numerous legal motions, most recently alleging that his trial attorneys had failed to properly understand jury instructions related to the elevation of misdemeanor sexual contact charges to felonies.
A state district judge granted a hearing that allows convicted defendants to challenge their sentences based on ineffective counsel or other constitutional violations. During the hearing, al-Turki’s current lawyers and prosecutors reached an agreement to amend the sexual contact convictions and enter guilty pleas to reduced charges.
“Mr. Al-Turki raised 6th Amendment concerns that his trial attorneys… failed to adequately research Colorado statutes,” Chief 18th Judicial District Deputy DA Ann Tomsic said in a statement. “Given the 19 years already served, the challenges in retrying the case, and the pending deportation, this was the most appropriate resolution.”
The 2006 jury convictions on false imprisonment, theft, and extortion were left in place, officials said.
Al-Turki was taken into ICE custody Tuesday for deportation proceedings.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Could the housekeeper not find a way to sexcape?
How could the “wife” be unaware? Or was the housekeeper considered a 2nd “wife”, so the first wife cannot complain? (My brilliant apostate Muslim girlfriend told me much about HIslam.)
Was the housekeeper in the United States legally?