Man handed 3-year-prison term for molesting teenage girl

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage girl in Aqaba in February 2020.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 17-year-old girl in a rented room in Aqaba on February 6 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said that the victim and the defendant became friends via Facebook application almost four years before the incident.

“The two began contacting each other and developed an affair,” according to the court transcripts.

Few weeks before the sexual assault incident, the court documents maintained, the “victim decided to elope with the defendant”.

“The victim and the defendant travelled to Aqaba where they rented an apartment there for a night,” court papers added. 

The defendant engaged in sexual activities with the victim, according to court documents.

The following day the two were found by the victim’s family and a complaint was filed against the defendant, according to court papers.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer, arguing that the victim provided contradictory statements to investigators regarding the assault incident, the court verdict stated. 

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.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Mohammad Khashashneh, Hayel Amr and Fawzi Nahar.