Wrongly accused man’s daughter was offered LM5 to retract abuse claims

The sister-in-law of a man wrongly accused of abusing and defiling his daughter, had offered the girl LM5 to retract the claims against her father and recant her testimony before the court, inspector Louise Calleja told the court.

Calleja was summoned to testify in the Constitutional case filed by the father, Emanuel Camilleri, against her, the Attorney General and the Police Commissioner.

In May 2012, Emanuel Camilleri was jailed for two years for defiling his daughter. However during the appeal the girl withdrew her allegations, while further medical exams carried out on the girl revealing that she was still a virgin.

Subsequently, a constitutional court released the man as an interim measure after the daughter, now 20, recanted the original version of events after new evidence led to the mother being charged with perjury and remanded in custody.

Taking the witness stand in the constitutional court this morning, Calleja told the court that the case began in September 17, 2004, after she received a report from Appogg against the father.

After speaking to social workers and consulting with her superiors, Calleja then charged Camilleri.

Testifying, Calleja told the court that the girl’s aunt – the mother’s sister – offered the girl LM5 to recant her version and say it was not true.

This claim had been seconded by the girl’s brother, Luke, who has since died. He said that he had seen Carabott offer his sister LM5 to change her version of events.

Moreover, Calleja insisted that the girl had testified five times, during which her version remained consistent.

Court declared the case closed. He deferred the case for final submissions for October 23.