Minor sentenced to 1 year at juvenile detention centre for molesting child

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Juvenile Court ruling, sentencing a minor to one year at a juvenile detention centre after being convicted of molesting a child in October 2017. 

The Juvenile Court found the minor guilty of molesting a next door neighbour on three different occasions and handed him three years in prison. 

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to one year because the victim’s family dropped charges against the defendant. 

Court papers said the defendant lured the boy, whose age was not mentioned in the verdict, to a deserted area next to their building and molested him. 

“The defendant threatened to kill the boy with a knife and to bury him if he informed his family,” according to court documents. 

However, the victim’s sister informed her family and they alerted the authorities, the court documents added. 

The defendant’s lawyer contested the sentence, arguing that his client should be freed because “the prosecution failed to provide solid evidence to implicate his client”. 

However, the higher court ruled that the Juvenile Court had followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he had received. 

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Qassem Dughmi, Yassin Abdullat, Hammad Ghzawi and Nayef Samarat.