10-year-jail term for Russeifa's mosque child molester

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a 54-year-old man to ten years in prison after convicting him of sexually assaulting a child in the toilets of a mosque in Russeifa last year.

The court declared the defendant, who is unemployed, guilty of molesting the ten-year-old victim by force and handed him a high sentence, a senior judicial source said.

“The charge for such an offence is a minimum of eight years. So we decided to give him ten years because he deserves such punishment for his unacceptable actions,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Court documents said the victim went to the mosque to pray when he met with the defendant.

“The defendant lured the victim to the toilet where he sexually assaulted him then gave him JD2,” the court said.

The victim threw back the money at the defendant, the court maintained, and rushed back home to inform his family about the incident.

The family immediately contacted the authorities and the suspect was arrested, the court added. Criminal Court Prosecutor Sultan Shakhanbeh asked the court to inflict the maximum punishment on the defendant.

The tribunal comprised of judges Fawzi Nahar, Loui Obeidat and Mohammad Hijazi.

Tuesday’s verdict will automatically be reviewed by the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.