Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for sexually assaulting woman

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to over five years in prison after convicting him of attempting to rape a 41-year-old divorced woman in Amman in September 2020. 

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to sexually assault the victim on September 19 and handed him a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to five years because the victim dropped charges against the defendant. 

Court papers said the victim was looking for a job and found an advertisement that a family was in need of a domestic helper.

The victim contacted the number and the defendant asked her to meet him in front of a building near the University of Jordan Street, the court documents said.

The victim went to the address with her eight-year-old son and “when she met with the defendant, he asked her to go up with him to an apartment in the building”, according to the court papers.

“The defendant claimed that the owners of the apartment will return soon to discuss the job details and once they were inside he locked the door,” the court documents said. 

The defendant undressed and asked the woman to take off her clothes “but she refused and attempted to leave”, the court stated.

“The defendant grabbed the victim and attempted to sexually assault her, but she managed to escape with her son from the apartment and alerted the authorities,” the court transcripts added.

The higher court announced that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and the defendant received the appropriate sentence. 

The court was comprised of judges Mohammed Ibrahim, Majid Azaba, Hayel Amr, Fawzi Nahar and Qassem Dughmi.