Man sentenced to five years in prison for molesting teenage neighbour

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2018 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of molesting his teenage neighbour in August 2017 in Amman.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the victim, who was 13 years old at the time of the assault, on two occasions in mid-August, and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim and the defendant were neighbours and started communicating regularly via social media.

The defendant and the victim agreed to meet during the eid holiday near a mall in eastern Amman, the court documents said.

“The defendant took the victim for a ride in a mini-bus where he molested her,” court papers added.

Later the same day, the court maintained, the defendant took the victim again “for a second ride where he sexually assaulted her”.

After the incident, court papers said, the minor “decided to escape from her family’s home”.

“The minor went to a friend’s house and informed the parents of what had happened and they immediately contacted her family,” court papers added.

The victim’s family immediately notified the police and the victim was sent to the Family Protection Department for questioning and legal follow-up, according to the court verdict.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general had asked the higher court to uphold the sentence against the defendant stating that the court had abided by the proper legal procedures when sentencing the defendant.

The defendant had contested the ruling through his lawyer arguing that there were “errors in the investigation and trial procedures”.

The defendant also charged that there were “contradictory statements made by the victim and other witnesses during the court proceedings”.

However, the higher court rejected the defendant’s argument and ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant and that he deserved the verdict he received.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Nayef Samarat, Yassin Abdullat and Majid Azab.