Cassation Court upholds three-year sentence in minor’s sexual assault case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of engaging in consensual sexual activities with a teenager in January 2023.

The court declared the defendant guilty of engaging in sexual activities with the 17-year-old girl on January. 20.

The court handed the defendant the maximum punishment.

Court papers said the victim and the defendant met via social media outlets and developed a relationship.

On the day of the sexual assault, the court maintained, “the victim escaped from her family’s home to meet the defendant in an apartment next to his family’s house”.

“The two engaged in sexual activities for few hours then the defendant left,” according to the court transcripts.

The defendant returned to the apartment and tried to “force himself on the victim so she decided to leave”, according to court papers.

The victim headed to the Family Protection Department where she filed a sexual assault against the defendant, the court stated.

The defendant did not contest his verdict at a higher court.

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

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment. 

The Court of Cassation was headed by Judge Yassin Abdullat, and included judges Majid Azab, Rizeq Abul Fool, Fawzi Nahar and Ibrahim Abu Shamma