Cassation Court upholds 20-year sentence for sexual exploitation of minor

AMMAN — The Cassation Court upheld a May 2023 Criminal Court decision to increase the prison term of a man who engaged in consensual sexual activities with a minor in November 2022.

The Criminal Court handed the defendant a 15-year prison term after convicting him of engaging in sexual activities on several occasions with a 14-year-old girl.

However, the court decided to increase the sentence to 20 years because the “defendant caused the victim to lose her virginity”.

Court documents said the defendant and the victim developed a relationship after meeting each other on a social media platform.

The two decided to meet alone a few months after exchanging messages, court papers maintained.

“The defendant took the victim to his house and engaged in consensual sexual activities on several occasions,” the court stated.

The matter was exposed a few weeks later when the defendant went to the victim’s house, thinking that she was alone, the court added.

“One of the victim’s family members found the defendant in the minor’s room and alerted the authorities,” court papers said.

The defendant was arrested, and the victim was referred to the Family Protection Department for further examination and questioning, the court maintained.

The defendant contested his verdict through his lawyer, asking for an acquittal on the basis that he suffered from mental problems.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the ruling.  

The higher court ruled that the defendant confessed willingly to the sexual encounters in front of the police and the criminal court prosecutor and “did not show any signs of mental problems during the trial”.

Therefore, the Cassation Court maintained that the Criminal Court’s judgement fell within the law, that the proceedings were proper and that the sentence given was satisfactory.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mahmoud Ebtoush, Fawzi Nahar, Qassem Dughmi, Majid Azab and  Ibrahim Abu Shamman.