Security guard given eight years in prison for molesting young girl

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an October 2019 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a security guard to eight years in prison after convicting him of molesting a girl at a government hospital in one of the northern governorates in March 2019. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the seven-year-old girl at a playground for children at the hospital on March 29 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said victim's family went to the hospital to visit a relative and left their child and her friend of the same age, at a play area for children.

“The defendant, who worked as a security guard, entered the room and started playing with the girls," court transcripts said.

The defendant then lifted one of the girls to place her on a slide and "in the process touched her private parts", court papers added.

The victim notified her family, the court maintained, and they filed a complaint against him. 

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, 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 failed to present any solid evidence that would implicate my client and depended only on the testimony of a seven-year-old child," the defence charged.

The lawyer also argued that the cameras in the hospital "on the day of the alleged assault were not working and there is no recordings that could tie my defendant to the incident".

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, Naji Zu’bi, Rizeq Abul Foul, Yassin Abdullat and Hammad Ghezwi.