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 his teenage neighbour in Amman in December 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 16-year-old girl at her house on Dec. 16 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said on the day of the incident, the defendant knocked on the victim’s door after he saw her parents leaving their apartment.

 “The defendant asked her for a phone charger and when she let him inside, he attempted to sexually assault her in the presence of her younger siblings,” according to the court transcripts.

The victim fought back and bit the defendant’s arm, the court papers stated.

“The victim sat on the floor so to prevent him from assaulting her so he dragged her from her legs to the kitchen where he molested her then left,” court papers added. 

The victim immediately called her family members to inform them about the incident and they immediately notified the police, according to court documents.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer charging that the victim’s testimonies against him were contradictory, court documents said.

“My client is innocent, and the victim made up the incident because the defendant refused to marry her sister,” the lawyer argued.

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.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to the incident and the investigation procedures were proper,” the higher court ruled.