Man handed 3-year prison term for molesting minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April 2018  Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage girl in Amman in August  2017.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 17-year-old girl at his family’s home on August 20 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim met the defendant through his sister two months before the incident and they started communicating with each other.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the “defendant asked to see the victim and she agreed”.

“The victim pretended that she was going to a medical centre in her area  but  instead went to the defendant’s family house, and the two engaged in sexual activities while his parents were asleep,” according to the court transcripts.

The defendant informed the victim that he planned to seek her hand in marriage, the court documents stated.

“The defendant then contacted the victim’s older sibling, who came to his house to get her sister,” court papers added. 

The Criminal Court general attorney had asked the higher court to uphold the sentence of the defendant.

Meanwhile, the defendant had contested the ruling through his lawyer, arguing that “he was deprived by the Criminal Court of presenting his evidence”.

However, the higher court rejected the defendant’s argument and ruled that the Criminal Court had followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant, and that he deserved the verdict he received.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Bassem Mubeidin, Yassin Abdullat and Hammad Ghzawi.