Father accused of defiling disabled daughter after LSA report

A man has been arraigned in court accused of defiling his 8-year-old daughter, who suffers from Down Syndrome.

The man was charged in court following a report filed by the girl’s learning support assistant.

The father, 47, was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty before Magistrate Ian Farrugia to the charges.

The court was told how on April 26, the police received a report from Agenzija Appogg who had been alerted to the case by the girl's learning support assistant.

Although the precise details of what led to the report were not divulged in court, it appears that the child had mentioned her father's first name in a context which the LSA had interpreted to have been sexual.

The father, who was subsequently arrested and questioned, was charged with participating in sexual acts with a minor and defiling a minor in his custody.

Defence lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha requested bail for the accused, while presenting documents relating to the accused's medical treatment for cardiac problems.


The prosecution objected to bail, pointing out that the girl was only 8 years old and resided at the same address as the accused. This raised a fear of tampering of evidence, argued the police, who asked the court to order the accused not to approach the girl or her home or school if it grants bail.“These cases are immensely risky,” Michael Sciriha submitted . “While my client is declaring that he had dedicated his life to care for this girl, his injury is doubled as the girl, in her innocence, may have got him into this situation.”

At the request of the defence, the court also drew the attention of the Director of Corradino Prison to the accused's medical conditions and ordered that the medical documents exhibited be forwarded to him, to inform his decision on where to hold the accused.

The defence requested the court also order that the daughter’s LSA who, it said, had reported things which were later found to be incorrect, be replaced.

Sciriha clarified that he did not believe it had been a malicious act, but that the harm had been caused by insufficient training.

The court ordered that the request be communicated to the Director General of the Education Department and the headmistress of the girl’s primary school for measures to be taken in this regard.