Say what you want about Middle Eastern law but at least with this one I belive they are on the right track for an admitted child rapist/molester. Iranian court hands 8 death sentences, 173 lashes to serial child rapist By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
TEHRAN (AP) - An Iranian court has sentenced a serial child rapist to eight death sentences and 173 lashes, the judge in charge of the case said Thursday.
Mohammad Ali Firouzi, 34, was sentenced this week to hang in each of the eight rape counts he confessed to, Judge Karam Ali Bahrami said.
Firouzi was also found guilty of raping 15 other children, plus kidnapping and molesting 36 others, some of whom he robbed.
The judge said he sentenced Firouzi to 10 years in jail for the molestation and robbery charges, plus 15 years imprisonment for kidnapping.
Firouzi will also receive 173 lashes - 74 for robbery and molestation and 99 for the 15 rape counts he did not confess to.
Bahrami said he sentenced Firouzi to death for each of the eight rapes to which he confessed, in line with Islamic law.
Firouzi has 20 days to appeal. The Supreme Court must decide whether to uphold the death sentences.
The defendant pleaded guilty to the eight rape counts during a trial that opened Oct. 1 in the southern Iranian town of Marvdasht, where he committed the crimes.
It was unclear when Firouzi committed his first offence, but Marvdasht police received the first victim complaint in early 2002.
One of the victim's mothers, who refused to be identified, told The Associated Press by phone that most of the children were between five and nine years old.
The court ruled that Firouzi will be hanged in public, a rare occurrence in Iran. Convicts in Iran are hanged in public only if a court deems their offences injured public sentiments.