AMMAN  — The Court of Cassation has upheld an August Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 24-year-old man to five years in prison after convicting him of sexually assaulting a married woman while at her home in Jerash in August 2016.

 

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting and attempting to rape the 22-year-old woman while she slept on August 20 and handed him the maximum punishment.

 

Court papers said the defendant worked in a gas station under the victim’s home.

 

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant snuck from an unprotected window to the women’s bedroom after her husband left for work.

 

“The victim was sleeping and was woken up by the defendant who was in his underwear,” court documents said.

 

The defendant molested the victim who was screaming and asking him to stop and “her children woke up”, according to court documents.

 

The defendant left the house and the woman immediately informed her husband and they filed a complaint against him, the court added.

 

The higher court ruled that the verdict was accurate and the defendant deserved the punishment he received. 

 

The Court of Cassation tribunal comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Majid Azab, Nayef Samarat and Bassem Mubeidin.