Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for molesting teenage boy

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage boy in Aqaba in 2020.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 16-year-old boy in an empty bus at the Aqaba bus station and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the victim was in the bus terminal area when the defendant spotted him.

“The defendant convinced the victim to ride with him in an empty bus where he sexually molested him,” according to the court transcripts.

The victim got dressed and left the bus heading to his family’s home and his parents alerted the authorities, the court documents stated.

The defendant appealed the verdict claiming that the victim provided contradictory statements.

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 judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Khshashneh, Nayef Mubeidin, Yassin Abdullat and Hammad Ghzawi.