Man sentenced to over 10 years in prison for sexual assault of minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to an increased prison term after convicting him of sexually assaulting a teenager in Zarqa in June 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of engaging in sexual activities with a 17-year-old minor on June 25 and handed him a seven-year prison term.

However, the court decided to increase the prison term to 10 years and six months because the victim was virgin when the assault occurred.

Court papers said the defendant and the victim lived in the same neighbourhood and developed a relationship.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, “The victim met with the defendant at her friend’s house”.

“The two engaged in consensual sexual activities and the defendant informed the victim that he would help her undergo an operation to restore her virginity,” court papers said.

However, the matter was later exposed and the victim’s family filed a complaint against the defendant.

The defendant appealed his verdict through his lawyer claiming that the prosecution failed to provide “any solid evidence to implicate him”.

The defence also claimed that the victim provided contradictory statements, which could not be used as evidence against his client.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence.

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

“The court decided to go with the maximum punishment for this crime because of the gravity of the incident that was committed by the defendant,” the court verdict stated.

The Court of Cassation was headed by Judge Mohammad Ibrahim and included judges Hammad Ghzawi, Nayef Samarat, Mohammad Khashashneh and Qassem Dughmi.