The Court of Cassations approved on Monday a Hail court's death sentence handed down to a convicted serial child rapist. The man, 21, who struck fear in Hail was found guilty of kidnapping and raping five children, aged between 3 and 7, one of whom he abandoned in a desert, north of Hail, where the child died of thirst under the scorching desert sun. The man was said to lure young children into his car as they were leaving school at noon and then to take them to deserted areas to rape them, police said. The investigation into the case started when a 25-year-old father reported that his three-year-old son was missing, suspecting a man driving a white Land Cruiser to be the kidnapper. The boy was later found lying dead in the desert. The man, however, was caught when a seven-year-old child gave the police the man's description, including a description of the white vehicle, after he managed to escape unhurt in the desert. The man's identity was not revealed. In June, a panel of three judges at the Hail court sentenced the man to death citing “abhorrent crimes” that terrorized the community.
