Man jailed for 8 years for molesting minor girl

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of molesting a girl in Irbid in May 2021.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 10-year-old girl twice while at a shop in Irbid city on May 7 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim went with her mother to a shop to buy some clothes.

While the victim was alone at a section in the shop, the defendant molested her, according to court papers.

The victim immediately notified her mother who started screaming and yelling at the defendant, court papers added.

The defendant shouted back at the mother saying he did not do anything wrong and then fled the shop, court papers maintained.

However, bystanders who heard an altercation at the shop were able to restrain him until the police came and arrested him, the court stated. 

When the defendant was arrested, he denied any wrongdoing, court papers said.

However, investigators reviewed the cameras in the shop, the footage showed the defendant molesting the victim twice, according to court transcripts.

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 prosecution office failed to present any solid evidence that would implicate my client".

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 Yassin Abdullat, Majid Azab, Hayel Amr, Fawzi Nahar and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.