Prison term increased for man who sexually abused minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a May 2022 Criminal Court's decision to increase the prison term of a man who was jailed for engaging in sexual activities with a minor.

The Criminal Court handed the defendant a seven-year prison term after convicting him of engaging in sexual activities with a 17-year-old twice in late February and early March of 2021 in Irbid.

However, the court decided to increase the sentence to nine years and four months because the “defendant caused the victim to lose her virginity”.

The appeals court refused to commute the term due to the victim’s age, according to the court transcripts.

The court documents said that the defendant and the victim developed a relationship four years prior to the incident.

The two decided to meet alone in late February of 2021, the court maintained.

“The defendant took the victim to the house of his relatives, who were away on vacation,” the court stated.

The two engaged in “consensual sexual activities twice,” according to the court papers.

The matter was exposed few weeks later after the victim complained of stomach pain, the court added.

“The victim’s family discovered that their daughter was pregnant, and alerted the authorities,” the court papers said.

The defendant was arrested and the victim was referred to the Family Protection Department for further examination and questioning, the court maintained.

“The court relied on DNA evidence from samples taken from the victim and the defendant’s confession to the sexual encounters with the minor,” according to the court transcripts.

The defendant had contested the Criminal Court’s ruling through his lawyer, who claimed that the “victim gave contradictory statements regarding the incident”.

The lawyer also requested a pardon on the grounds that the defendant married the victim after the matter was exposed.

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

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court’s judgement fell within the law, the proceedings were proper and the sentence given was satisfactory.

“The defendant cannot benefit from any pardon because he married the victim after the assault,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation tribunal comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Hammad Ghzawi, Nayef Samarat and Mohamad Khashashneh.