Man faces 7 years behind bars for molesting young refugee boy

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2016 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to seven years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage Syrian refugee boy in Mafraq in January 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 12-year-old boy in Zaatari Refugee Camp on January 21 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the defendant and another man, who was also sentenced to seven years in prison in the same case but did not appeal his verdict, grabbed the victim, who was with his friend, and undressed him by force.

“The defendants attempted to sexually assault the victim but he managed to escape from their grip and headed to the nearest police station in the refugee camp,” court transcripts said.

 The two men were apprehended and a sexual assault case was filed against them, court papers added.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence against the defendant "because the punishment he received was proper".

The defence, meanwhile, asked the court to acquit his client because "the Criminal Court relied only on weak evidence and contradictory statements when issuing the sentence".

 However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

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