Man jailed 3 years for raping 9-year-old girl

A Saudi court sentenced a local man to three years in prison after he was convicted of raping a nine-year-old girl, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The man denied the charges, saying he grabbed the child’s hand for protection and wanted to take her to her apartment in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah.

The girl told court that he kissed her and took her to the rooftop of the building where she lives before raping her.

The judge rebuffed the defendant’s claims and sentenced him to three years in prison after police records showed he had been jailed before on charges of molesting a boy.