Egyptian sentenced to 8 years in prison for molesting 11-year-old girl

AMMAN — The Criminal Court has sentenced an Egyptian building guard to eight years in prison after convicting him of molesting a child in a mall in the capital in June 2014.

The court declared the 28-year-old man guilty of molesting an 11-year-old girl at Yaser Mall in Wadi Seer and handed him the maximum punishment of eight years in prison for molestation of a child.

Court papers said the victim was walking in the mall with her mother on June 28 last year when the defendant approached her and touched her inappropriately without her mother noticing.

The girl looked at the man then started screaming, and the defendant ran away, according to court papers.

“The mother informed mall security and they managed to detain the defendant and informed the police,” the court said.

The victim identified him in a police line-up and later in court, the verdict added.

The victim’s family refused to drop charges against the defendant, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges during his opening trial earlier this year.

The tribunal comprised judges Fawzi Nahar, Ibrahim Bawareed and Mohammad Udwan.

The Criminal Court prosecutor had asked the court to impose the maximum punishment on the defendant as stipulated by the law.

The verdict, which was issued by the tribunal at the end of last month, will automatically be reviewed by the Cassation Court in 30 days.