Cassation Court backs prior ruling in Amman molestation case

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a January Criminal Court decision sentencing a man to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting two children in Amman in May 2017.

The Criminal Court handed the defendant the maximum sentence after convicting him of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl, who are his relatives, and handed him the maximum sentence.

The defendant would often visit the victims’ house to visit their parents, according to court documents.

On May 8, the court maintained, the parents left the house and the defendant lured the children one by one to a room where “he sexually assaulted them”.

When the parents returned to the house, the court maintained, they informed their parents who immediately alerted the authorities.

The defendant had contested the Criminal Court’s ruling, asking to be declared innocent and claiming that “there were many people who were frequent visitors to the victim’s house and the court failed to rely on solid evidence”.

However, the Cassation Court ruled that the Criminal Court’s judgment adhered to the law, that the proceedings were proper and that the sentence was satisfactory.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised of judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Naji Zu’bi and Hammad Ghzawi.