Man charged with defiling underage niece, remanded in custody

The 45-year-old man was charged with defiling his niece and subjecting her to physical intimacy

The girl told police that her uncle exposed her to sexual discourse and performed sexual acts in front of her
The girl told police that her uncle exposed her to sexual discourse and performed sexual acts in front of her

A 45-year-old man has been remanded in custody after being charged with defiling his underage niece and subjecting her to physical intimacy.

The man whose name cannot be published, in order to protect the victim's identity, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defence’s request for bail was rejected, after the prosecution objected on the grounds that important witnesses were still to offer their testimony.

The court heard how the minor, together with her mother, went to a police station to report the girl's uncle for sexual discourse he was exposing her to.

The prosecution explained that when the police spoke to the girl, she recounted how her uncle had also performed sexual acts in front of her.

After the defence made a request for bail, the prosecution objected, arguing that there was a risk of evidence tampering and that other minors had yet to testify. The prosecution did however state that it would not object to bail once the testimonies were over.

The arguments presented by the defence on the chronology of the events was slightly different to those of the Attorney General. Among them was that a number of days had passed between the day the offence took place and between the day the man was arrested.

The defence reiterated that the accused should be granted bail immediately, arguing that he had been aware of the charges against him for about 15 days and had not approached the alleged victim at any time.

"If so the prosecution would have acted earlier,” the defence argued.

After hearing the parties' submissions, the court rejected the request for bail.