Man gets 5-year jail term for molesting minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage girl in Ruseifa in April 2020.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 16-year-old girl in a secluded area near the victim’s home and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim and the defendant became acquaintance because they lived in the same neighbourhood.

“The two exchanged numbers and decided to meet up to get to know each other,” according to the court transcripts.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the two went for a walk and ended up in a secluded area, the court documents stated.

“The defendant kissed the victim and touched her private parts,” court papers added. 

The victim moved away from him and ran towards the main road to find a police patrol that happened to be parked nearby, according to the court documents.

The defendant appealed the verdict through his lawyer asking to be acquitted of the charges because the “victim provided contradictory statements”.

“The prosecution also failed to provide any solid evidence that would implicate my client with this charge,” the lawyer argued.

The defence also argued that his client’s sentence should be dropped because the victim and her mother dropped charges against him.

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

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

“Since the victim is a minor, the defendant does not benefit from any reduction in penalty even if the victim or her family drops charges against him as stipulated in the Jordanian Penal Code,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Saeed Mugheud, Hamad Ghzawi and Majid Azab.