Four-year jail term for man who molested, filmed assault on 15-year-old

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing  a man to four years in prison after convicting him of molesting a minor at his father’s shop in Amman in November 2016.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting a 15-year-old girl in his father's supermarket on November 26, and handed him the maximum punishment.

 Court papers said the defendant met the victim via a mobile phone application and they became friends.

On the day of the incident, the victim went to visit the defendant at his shop, the court maintained.

“The defendant locked the door and forced her to a backroom where he molested her under threat, while she was begging him to stop,” the court said, adding that the defendant also “filmed the incident with his mobile to blackmail the child".

The victim went home and informed her family who filed a complaint, according to court documents, which added that the defendant was summoned by police and his mobile was seized after “police found the incident recorded on his device.”

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling charging that there were inconsistencies during the trial.

However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper proceedings when sentencing the defendant deserves the verdict he received.

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