A 58-year-old man has been found guilty of molesting a ten-year-old child in a mosque bathroom in Russeifa city, Zarqa.

On Tuesday, the Grand Criminal Court sentenced the offender to ten years in jail for the crime that took place in 2017.

According to the court, the boy had gone to the mosque to pray, when the paedophile lured him into the bathroom with the excuse of needing his help with something.

In the bathroom, the child was violently sexually assaulted.

After committing his crime, the man gave the child JD 2, which the latter rejected and threw in his assaulter’s face, before running off to his family and telling them of what had happened.

In Jordan, one in three children are sexually harassed in the street, according to UN statistics.

Police statistics record 600 cases of child molestation annually in Jordan, however, many cases go unreported, The New Arab reported.

It is essential to spread awareness amongst children in schools and educate them about the ways in which they can defend themselves against paedophiles, and protect their bodies, in addition to urge them to report any sexual harassment or assault incidents to their parents or an adult whom they trust.