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Ammon News - by Rana Husseini/ The Jordan Times

AMMAN – The Criminal Court has handed a reduced sentence to a 32-year-old man for molesting a woman in the street in May 2012.

The court first sentenced the defendant to a four-year prison term after convicting him of molesting a 25-year-old woman in an Amman neighbourhood on May 25.

But the court immediately decided to halve the sentence because the victim dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the victim was walking in the street when the defendant grabbed her from the back.

“When she turned around and pushed him away he grabbed her breasts, then started running and laughing,” the court added.

Bystanders and an on-duty police officer chased the suspect and apprehended him, the eight-page verdict said.

In his confession in front of the police and the criminal prosecutor when he was arrested, the suspect said he “grabbed the victim’s thigh after being tempted by the devil to do so.”

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charges in an earlier court session.

The tribunal, which issued the verdict on December 20, comprised judges Nahar Ghazo, Amjad Kurdi and Ibrahim Bawareed.

The defendant and the criminal court prosecution have 30 days to appeal the verdict at the Cassation Court.