Man gets five-year prison term for molesting teenage boy

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January 2017 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of molesting a 16-year-old boy in April 2016.

The court declared the defendants guilty of molesting the boy on April 9 and handed him a four-year punishment. The court decided to immediately increase the sentence by one year because he was a repeated sex offender.

Court papers said that the defendant “knew the victim because he worked in a shop near his residence”.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant took the boy in his vehicle to his house and informed him that “he wanted to engage in sexual activities with him”.

“The defendant, who had consumed alcohol, offered the minor money in exchange for sex but the victim refused so he molested him,” the court said.

The boy managed to escape from the defendant’s house and “informed his boss and family about the incident”.

The defendant had contested the Criminal Court’s ruling saying that “the victim gave contradictory statements in front of the police and the Criminal Court prosecutor”.

The Criminal Court general attorney had asked the Court of Cassation to uphold the ruling stating that the “defendant deserved the punishment he received”.

The higher court adhered to the Criminal Court’s general attorney’s request to uphold the verdict by ruling that “the verdict was accurate and the defendant deserved the punishment he received”.