Centennial – A judge ruled Wednesday that a Saudi Arabian man must stand trial on charges that he kidnapped and sexually assaulted an Indonesian woman who was working as a domestic servant for his family.
Homaidan Al-Turki, 36, faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap, and 11 counts of felony sexual assault.
His wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, is a co-defendant in the kidnapping and conspiracy charges. Khonaizan waived her right to a preliminary hearing and is considering an offer from Deputy District Attorney Ann Tomsic to plead guilty to a felony charge of theft of services with the promise of no prison time.
The couple remains free on more than $1 million bail, half of which was posted by the Saudi Arabian government while the other half was raised by the Arab community in metro Denver.
The couple also faces federal charges of servitude and forced labor.
During the hearing, the victim testified she traveled to the United States with Al-Turki’s family in 2001. Al-Turki kept her passport, which expired in 2002, she said. In two different houses in Aurora, she lived in a basement room, working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., without a day off.
She was to be paid $150 a month, but testified she received only $1,500 from Al-Turki and another $300 from another Arab family.
She said Al-Turki visited her room almost weekly, eventually forcing her into having oral sex and intercourse.
Defense attorneys John Richilano and Dan Recht argued that the woman could leave any time, that she visited five other families for weeks at a time and always returned. They also argued that the FBI interviewed the woman 11 times over three months, with no mention of sexual assaults. It wasn’t until she mentioned it to a friend last April, six months after she was removed from the family, that authorities began pursuing the sex charges, Richilano said.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
