Court upholds conviction of two men accused of molesting child

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing  two men to eight years in prison after convicting them of molesting a child  in February 2017.

The court declared the defendants guilty of molesting an 11-year-old girl at a rented apartment and handed them the maximum punishment.

 Court papers said the defendants knew the victim because she lived in the same neighbourhood.

“The defendants decided to molest the girl and lured her to a rented apartment where they both molested her,” according to court papers.

The victim returned home and informed her family who immediately alerted the Family Protection Department that is affiliated with the Public Security Department.

The defendants contested the Criminal Court’s ruling saying that they were not notified of the court hearings and that they were innocent.

 However, the higher court rejected their claims based on reports by the criminal lab that indicated that DNA samples taken from the victim’s underwear matched that of the two defendants.

“The Criminal Court followed the proper procedures and they both deserved the punishment that was handed down against them by the court,” the Court of Cassation ruled.

 The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat and Hamad Ghzawi.