Man handed 12-year prison sentence for molesting child with autism

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a January Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 12 years in prison for molesting a child with autism in Irbid last October. 

The man was convicted of molesting the nine-year-old child on October 27 and handed him the maximum punishment.

“Due to the gruesome act and the fact that the child was nine-years-old and has autism, the court decided to inflict the maximum punishment for this crime,” the Criminal Court ruled. 

Court papers said the victim was playing in the street at night when the defendant, who was intoxicated, approached him.  

“The defendant took the victim to a deserted area where he molested him,” according to court transcripts.

Meanwhile, a witness saw the defendant taking the child to a deserted area and headed to his father’s house and alerted him, the court papers added.

The witness then went back to where the victim was and saw him standing next to the defendant, the court added.

“The defendant informed the witness that he was looking for an apartment to rent in the area,” the court papers said.

When the victim’s father arrived, he noticed that his son’s pants were “unbuttoned and he immediately alerted the authorities who arrested the defendant”, the court papers maintained.

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling through his lawyer, arguing that the “victim’s testimony was contradictory”.

However, the Cassation Court ruled that the verdict was correct and the defendant deserved the ruling he had received. 

The Cassation Court comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Qassem Dughmi, Naji Zu’bi, Nayef Samarat and Hammad Ghzawi.