Man denies having sex with girl, 12 and groping 10 year old

A man from Senglea has been remanded in custody on charges of participating in sexual activity with two girls aged just 10 and 12.

A Maltese man, 41, appeared before magistrate Joseph Mifsud this morning, accused of having, in August in Qormi and other places misused technology to propose meeting a 12 year old girl , participating in sexual activity with the 12 year old and defiling a 10 year old.

Inspector Joseph Busuttil explained how the parents of both children had gone to the police after one of the children had told her cousin about the abuse, who then told his mother, who, in turn informed the parents. The 10 year-old child had been groped, said the inspector, but in the case of the 12 year-old, there had been full intercourse.

The abuse occurred near a supermarket in Qormi and in the sea off Marsascala near the site of the Jerma hotel.

During his interrogation, the accused had admitted to police that he had abused one of the girls at a seaside property, but not the other. The girl had been a willing participant and had already been sexually active, submitted the defence.

Bail was requested, the defence arguing that there was no shortage of measures that the court could impose to ensure that he did not attempt to suborn witnesses. Inspector Busuttil added that the accused worked with the father of one of the children, which made it difficult to implement in practise.

The magistrate refused to release the man from arrest at this stage.: “I can’t at this stage fail to protect witnesses. I know the inspector works fast. We are talking 2 years prison minimum and 3- 5 for the other. Had he admitted I would have jailed him for at least 4 years.”

The court ordered a ban on the publication of the name of the children. Lawyer David Camilleri was defence counsel.