Court hands four men prison terms for sexually abusing 13-year-old girl

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March 2019 Criminal Court ruling sentencing four men to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years after convicting them of engaging in sexual activities with a female minor in January 2018.

The court declared the defendants guilty of engaging in consensual sexual activities with the 13-year-old girl on January 8, 2018, and handed three of the four defendants a 15-year prison term for having sex with the minor, while the fourth defendant was sentenced to three years and four months on molestation charges.

Court papers said that, at the time of the incident, the victim left her family’s home and started wandering the streets.

“One of the defendants saw the victim and asked her to go with him for a car ride, and she agreed,” court papers said. 

“The defendant engaged in sexual activities with the child while in the car, then called three of his friends to join him,” according to court papers.

The three men joined the first defendant and took the girl to a deserted house near Airport Road, where they took turns engaging in sexual activities with her, court papers added.

“The victim’s family filed a missing person report and the following day, the child was found in the company of one of the defendants. Upon questioning them both, the police arrested the three other men,” according to court transcripts.

The defendants contested their verdicts through their lawyers, arguing that “there was no proof that they engaged in sexual activities with the girl, and her testimonies were contradictory”.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the rulings.

The higher court rejected the defendants’ arguments and ruled that the Criminal Court had followed the proper procedures when sentencing them and that the defendants deserved the verdicts they had received.

“Our court relied on DNA evidence that linked three of the four defendants to the charges levelled against them. The victim’s testimony against them was consistent throughout the interrogation and trial procedures,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Majid Azab, Yassin Abdullat and Hammad Ghzawi.