Man gets 8-year jail term for molesting minor girl

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of molesting a girl in September 2020. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 11-year-old girl, who is his neighbour, at his house on September 25 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim went to dump the trash next to her building when the defendant approached her.

“The defendant dragged the victim to his house and molested her by force," court transcripts said.

The victim left but did not notify her family because she was afraid, the court maintained.

Few days later, the court added, the victim’s family noticed that their daughter was acting strangely and “when they asked her she informed them about the sexual assault incident and they filed a complaint against their neighbour”. 

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

The prosecution office also failed to present “any solid evidence” that would implicate my client, the defence lawyer charged.

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, Hayel Amr, Yassin Abdullat, Fawzi Nahar and Nayef Samarat.