10 years in prison for repeated sex offender

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February  Criminal Court ruling sentencing a repeated sex offender to ten years in prison after convicting him of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Amman in September.

The court declared the defendant guilty of sodomy and first handed him nine years in prison but increased it by an additional year "because he was a repeated sex offender" at the time of the incident that occurred in Jabal Hussein on September 16.

On the day of the incident, the 13-year-old victim was heading to the bakery to buy bread when the defendant grabbed him by force and took him to a deserted area, the court said, adding “the defendant drew a switchblade and asked the victim to undress and he sexually assaulted him."

Afterwards, “he threatened to kill the victim if he informed his family," the court maintained, adding “the victim immediately alerted his parents who filed a complaint against the defendant."

“The defendant committed a heinous act and he deserves the increase in the sentence that he received,” the Court of Cassation said, ruling that the Criminal Court followed the proper proceedings when sentencing the defendant and he deserves the verdict he received.

 The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Hamad Ghzawi and Majid Azab.