Man charged after secretly filming sexual encounters with 15-year-old girl

A 34-year-old man has been charged with producing child pornography after he secretly filmed his sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl without her knowledge.

The man who lives in Sliema was also charged with participating in sexual activities with an underage person.

Inspector Joseph Busuttil arraigned the Peruvian-born accused before Magistrate Nadine Lia earlier today.

He explained to the court that the police vice squad had received a criminal complaint from the girl’s father, after the accused had sent a video of one of their sexual encounters to the girl.

As soon as her father got to know, he filed the criminal complaint and handed the footage over to the police, said the inspector, adding that the girl had been unaware of the fact that she was being filmed.

Lawyers Herman Mula and Michele Cardinale, appearing for the defendant, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Mula informed the court that the defence was not requesting bail at this stage, but solicited the prosecution to summon its witnesses without delay.

The court upheld a prosecution request for a protection order in favour of the girl.

The defence asked the court to impose a ban on the publication of the accused’s name, saying that otherwise there was a chance that this could lead to the identification of the victim. Inspector Busuttil did not object to the ban, citing the same reason.

The court, after consulting with the law, upheld the request for a ban on names which will remain in force for the duration of the criminal proceedings against the accused.

Lawyer Roberta Bonello appeared parte civile for the girl.