Authorities arrest man for alleged sexual assault seen in social media video

AMMAN — Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of a man who appeared in a video on social media purportedly showing him sexually assaulting two girls in Zarqa. 

Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said the Family Protection Department (FPD) received information on Monday that a video clip “showing a man sexually assaulting two children” was going viral.

“Special investigation teams were formed and were able, within hours, to locate the suspect and the individual who filmed the incident with his mobile,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

FPD Director Col. Fakhri Al Qatarneh said the suspect who allegedly sexually assaulted the 11 and 12-year-old girls “confessed to the incident, which happened almost six months ago”.

“The two victims were walking to the mall and the suspect dragged them to a secluded area and sexually assaulted them,” Qatarneh told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old man who allegedly “filmed the incident from the window of his house” was apprehended and is currently being questioned, Qatarneh added.

“This is an unfortunate incident since the person who filmed the incident should have contacted us instead of watching and documenting it,” Qatarneh said.

Qatarneh added that when the alleged video surfaced two days ago on the Internet, “we immediately contacted Facebook to stop it”.

“We are in direct contact with the Facebook administration,” Qatarneh added.

Meanwhile, Qatarneh and Sartawi warned social media users from sharing the video clip on the Internet, stressing that “their actions will be punishable by law with a prison term ranging from three months to one year and a fine ranging from JD300 to JD5,000”.

Both men were referred to the Criminal Court prosecutor on molestation charges, according to a Public Security Department statement.