Cassation Court upholds 8-year sentence for man convicted of molesting two relatives

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld an April 2022 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of molesting two of his relatives in Zarqa Governorate in December 2021.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting two sisters aged 13 and 11, who were his in-laws, on two different occasions while at their family's home.

The court handed the defendant, who confessed to the sexual assault incidents, the maximum punishment.

Court papers said the defendant, who was married to the victim’s sisters decided to molest the two siblings when their family was out of the house.

“The defendant entered the room of the victims and molested each of them on two different occasions,” court papers said.

The victims informed their family about the incident and they filed a complaint against him,” according to the court transcripts.

The defendant contested his verdict at a higher court claiming that the state prosecutor committed some legal errors during the investigation process.

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 investigations' proceedings were accurate and the defendant confessed willingly to the sexual assault incidents," the higher court ruled.

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