3-year jail term upheld for man who molested teenager in Aqaba

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage girl in Aqaba in August.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the victim, who was 16 at the time of the incident, in an apartment in Aqaba, 330km south of Amman, on August 4.

However, the court declared the defendant not guilty of charges of attempted rape and abduction “because it was proven to the court that the victim was not forced to be with the defendant when the sexual assault occurred.”

Court papers said the defendant and the victim met each other four months before the sexual assault.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant and the victim met in a street and he “took her willingly to an apartment, where he molested her.”

The assault was revealed the following day and the victim’s family filed a complaint at a police station against the defendant, the court transcripts added.

The Criminal Court’s general attorney had asked the higher court to uphold the verdict. 

Meanwhile, the defendant contested the Criminal Court ruling, stating that the court based its ruling on “contradictory statements by the victim, as well as a lack of evidence that the sexual assault occurred.”

However, the higher court ruled late last month that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and correct and the defendant received the appropriate punishment.

The court comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Daoud Tubeleh, Mohammad Tarawneh, Mohammad Baroudi and Bassem Mubeidin.