RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's supreme court has upheld a death sentence handed down against a teacher convicted of kidnapping and raping eight young girls, a local daily reported on Sunday.

A lower court in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah had found the man guilty last year of kidnapping girls aged between six and 11 from public areas and taking them to his home to rape them, the Makkah newspaper reported without giving his name.

His last victim, a nine-year-old whom he abducted from a wedding hall, was able to guide police to the area of Jeddah where he lived, leading to his arrest in 2011.

Earlier reports said the man was 42 at the time of his arrest, and married with four children.

He reportedly offered the girls sweets to lure them into his car, and sent his family away while he raped his victims in the family home.

Rape is one of a raft of crimes punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Others include murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.