A Saudi Arabian air force sergeant who arrived in Las Vegas for New Year's Eve two years ago has been sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in state prison for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old boy at a Las Vegas Strip hotel.
Mazen Alotaibi, 25, stared at the courtroom floor on Wednesday as the boy's mother sobbed that her son's life was ruined and Judge Stefany Miley imposed the mandatory sentence for sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14.
Alotaibi didn't testify at his trial in October 2013, and he didn't speak on Wednesday. With time already served, he will be 57 before he is eligible for parole.
"This idea that you can come in here and ... do the things you want and then you get to leave, and 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' is wrong," prosecutor Jacqueline Bluth said. "That's all about show. It's not real life."
"It should really be, 'What happens here could make you stay here a long time'," she said. "If you come here and you commit crimes and you rape our kids, you're going to pay for it."
Defence attorney Dominic Gentile said he intends to appeal.