Sodomy sentence reduced to molestation

Dubai: A young man escaped possible capital punishment after his lawyer argued that his client molested a 14-year-old schoolboy and didn't sodomise him before a court in Al Ain.

The Al Ain Court of First Instance yesterday sentenced the 20-year-old Emirati government employee to three years in jail after it cancelled the convict's charge of sodomy and recharged him with molesting the Jordanian schoolboy.

According to the Federal Penal Code, a convict who has sexual intercourse with or against the will of someone under the age of 14 faces a maximum punishment of the death sentence or life in prison.

The convict's lawyer, Ali Al Abbadi, argued: "My client didn't sodomise the schoolboy... the forensic report confirmed that the boy was not sodomised (there were no signs of any intercourse) but the examination showed that there were signs of sexual interaction which occurred due to possible molestation."

The Public Prosecution had accused the employee of impersonating police personnel, kidnapping the schoolboy at knifepoint and forcefully sodomising him inside his vehicle, in a remote area.