Attorney General John Suthers is due back from Saudi Arabia on Saturday night after spending several days meeting with Saudi King Abdullah and other high-ranking officials about a man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman and keeping her enslaved in his Aurora home.

Suthers went there at the request of the U.S. ambassador in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. State Department to ease the Saudi royal family's concerns over whether Homaidan Al-Turki, 37, was treated fairly when he was sentenced in September to 20 years to life in prison.

A linguistics doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado, Al-Turki also was sentenced to eight years for unlawful sexual contact and eight years for theft.

"It was deemed necessary to go over there and defend the good name of Colorado and explain how our criminal system works," Deputy Colorado Attorney General Jason Dunn said.

Dunn said the royal family and the Saudi public were misinformed about the Al-Turki sentencing. Suthers met with King Abdullah, the Crown Prince Sultan and members of the defendant's family.

Suthers left on Sunday and spent about four days in Saudi Arabia, Dunn said. He said the federal government paid for most, if not all, of the trip.

Al-Turki was convicted June 30 of forcing a 24-year-old Indonesian woman to cook and clean and take care of the family, including five children, with little pay.

The victim slept on a mattress on the basement floor, was paid less than $2 a day, and Al-Turki eventually intimidated her into sex acts that culminated in her rape in late 2004, according to prosecutors.

Both Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, were charged with state and federal crimes in the case. Khonaizan made plea agreements, and a state district court sentenced her to two months' incarceration and ordered her to pay $90,000 in restitution.

Staff writer Carlos Illescas can be reached at 303-954-1175 or