Man handed 18-month prison term for indecent acts against minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 18 months in prison after convicting him of indecent acts against a minor using the Internet in July 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of using the Internet to blackmail a 14-year-old girl and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim met the defendant, who posed as a woman, through Instagram application.

Few months into their friendship on Instagram, the court maintained, “the defendant convinced the victim to send him naked photos of her”.

“The defendant then asked for more naked photos of the girls and her friend or he would expose her and send her naked photos to her schoolmates,” according to the court transcripts.

The victim decided to tell her mother who immediately alerted the Cyber Crime Unit and the defendant was arrested, the court documents said.

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 innocent, and that the victim made up the story”.

The defendant also charged that the investigation procedures by law enforcement officials “were in violation of his rights and that he was subjected to torture and duress during the questioning period,” according to court documents.

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 had received.

“The defendant did not provide any evidence to prove that he was innocent or that he was subjected to any form of torture or duress,” the higher court ruled.

The Cassation Court also said that the defendant was implicated based on evidence provided by the Cyber Crime Unit regarding the incident.

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