SANDWICH — A 73-year-old Concord man was sentenced to state prison after a Barnstable Superior Court jury convicted him in connection with the July 2023 sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman inside a Sandwich restaurant.
Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois announced Friday, May 22, 2026, that Elie Jammal, 73, of Concord, Massachusetts, was convicted after a jury trial on charges of rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14.
The case stemmed from an incident on July 9, 2023, when a 20-year-old woman was dining at a restaurant in Sandwich, according to Galibois’ office.
The woman left her table to use the restroom. In the hallway outside the restroom, Jammal, who was another patron at the restaurant and a stranger to the woman, encountered her and commented on how beautiful she was.
Prosecutors say Jammal pushed the woman against a wall in the bathroom hallway, sexually assaulted her, and demanded that she put his cellphone number into her phone.
The woman was able to escape and enter the women’s restroom, but Jammal followed her inside and sexually assaulted her again. Jammal then left the restroom.
The woman attempted to make several calls for help from her smartwatch. One of her family friends later checked on her after she had been in the restroom for an extended period of time and found her hiding inside one of the bathroom stalls, visibly upset, according to Galibois’ office.
Jammal was then confronted by the woman’s mother and the other family friend outside of the restaurant, where he claimed the woman had come on to him.
Police were contacted, but Jammal had already left the restaurant in his vehicle before officers arrived.
In November 2023, Jammal was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury on the charges of rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery of a person age 14 or over.
A Barnstable Superior Court jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges.
Before imposing Jammal’s sentence, the court said the matter was not fueled by alcohol consumption by Jammal, but by “a shocking sense of entitlement,” according to Galibois’ office.
Jammal was sentenced to 13½ to 15 years in state prison on the rape conviction, followed by five years of probation on the indecent assault and battery convictions.
The case was investigated by the Sandwich Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Courtney Leigh Scalice, chief of child abuse and vulnerable victims, with assistance from Victim/Witness Assistant Deborah McCoy.
Galibois commended the victim for the “strength and courage” she showed by participating in the judicial process, and thanked the investigators and staff who worked on the case.
