Jury begins to hear evidence in trial of man accused of raping nine-year-old daughter

Trial of man charged with raping nine-year-old daughter starts behind closed doors

The man raped his daughter on two occasions in 2004
The man raped his daughter on two occasions in 2004

The trial of a 47-year-old man from Bormla, who is accused of having raped his nine-year-old daughter on two occasions in 2004, is set to begin today.

Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja will preside over the man’s trial by jury. The man’s name is not being published in order to safeguard the privacy of the alleged victim. The trial is expected to take place behind closed doors.

The crime only came to light, many years later, after the child had opened up to a religious doctrine teacher at MUSEUM.

In 2015, the man’s request for a constitutional reference, in which he made several claims of rights breaches, amongst them that he had been denied access to a lawyer before and during interrogation and that his detention in pre-trial custody exceeded the limit imposed by law, had been rejected by the Criminal Court, and later also by the Constitutional court.

Lawyers Anthony Vella and Kaylie Bonnet from the office of the Attorney General, are prosecuting. Lawyer Tonio Azzopardi is defence counsel to the accused.