Man denied bail, pleads not guilty to rape of ex-partner's daughter

A 39-year-old man from Swieqi was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to charges of rape and sexual corruption allegedly committed on his ex-partner’s teenage daughter.

The man was arraigned before Magistrate Victor Axiak on Friday morning by Inspector Wayne Buhagiar, who together with prosecutors Cynthia Tomasuolo and Jennifer Polidano, charged the man with the repeated rape of a minor, participating in sexual activity with a minor, detaining her against her will, subjecting her to sexual acts of a non-consensual nature, corrupting a minor, harassing her and causing her to fear that he would be violent towards her.

Inspector Buhagiar told the court that the girl, today aged 15, had reported the defendant, who is her mother’s ex-partner, to the Vice Squad, alleging that he had been molesting her since 2016, with the abuse progressing to rape. 

Gynaecologists, appointed to assist the magisterial inquiry that had subsequently been appointed, had confirmed that the girl’s hymen was not intact, added the inspector. The girl had given a detailed account of the alleged abuse to the inquiring magistrate, before whom both her parents had also testified.

The defendant had been arrested some time ago but was later released on police bail.

Asked how he pleaded, the accused man replied “I did nothing. I’m not guilty, me.”

Defence lawyers Michaela and Mattea Giglio requested bail, to which the defence objected due to the nature of the charges and the fact that the alleged victim and her family had not yet given evidence in these proceedings.

Giglio pointed out that they had already testified before the inquiry, which had started in January, and insisted that her client had been on police bail since then and had not breached the conditions of his release. 

“Had he truly spoken to the victim or her family, the inspector would have arrested him,” argued the lawyer.

Lawyer Jacob Magri, appearing as parte civile, told the court that his client had informed him today that the man had been repeatedly attempting to communicate with the mother, through “incessant WhatsApp messages.”

The court, after hearing the parties submissions on the bail request, moved to reject it, citing “what appears to be a real risk of tampering with the evidence,” ordering that the man be remanded in custody.

It also issued a protection order in favour of the parents. Court warned him not to approach or contact both the parents and their daughter. 

Names are being withheld in view of a court-imposed publication ban.