Man gets 3-year prison term for molesting girl

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage girl in Amman in March 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 16-year-old girl in a deserted warehouse on March 5 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim met the defendant via social media and they then developed a relationship.

A few months after meeting online, the court maintained, the “victim engaged in a heated argument with her mother and left the family’s home”.

“The victim contacted the defendant to inform him about the incident and he picked her up with his vehicle, and took her to a deserted warehouse,” according to the court transcripts.

“The defendant sexually assaulted the victim while the two were staying there,” court papers added. 

The following day, the police raided the place and arrested the defendant, court papers added.

The defendant contested the court ruling through his lawyer arguing that the tribunal relied on weak evidence.

The defence also charged that the court failed to examine some of the evidence presented during court proceedings.

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

The higher court rejected the defendant’s argument and ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant and he deserved the verdict he had received.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Ahmad Qatawneh, Majid Azab, Saeed Mugheid and Hammad Ghzawi.