Man who raped infant nieces jailed for 25 years

A man who repeatedly raped his infant nieces while babysitting them, was yesterday jailed for 25 years by Judge Antonio Mizzi.

The 65-year-old, who cannot be named by court order to protect the identity of the victims, had, over the course of several years, raped his brother’s two daughters and occasionally filmed the abuse. Investigators found harrowing images of child abuse on the man’s computer.

Legal sources described this as the worst case of child sexual abuse Malta has ever seen. The abuse started when the girls were just three and five years of age.

The man had been entrusted to care for them as a babysitter. He was only arrested in 2016 after one of the girls, by then 18 years of age, had plucked up the courage to file a report with the police.

The man was charged with rape that was aggravated by the fact that the victims were minors and he had been entrusted with their care.

He was also charged with forcing his niece to be present during sexual abuse, and of producing and possessing child pornography. The trial was held behind closed doors due to the sensitive nature of the case. The accused had pleaded guilty during police interrogation and confirmed the plea before the magistrates’ court in October 2016. The case was then transferred to the Criminal Court for sentencing.

Judge Mizzi jailed him for 25 years after taking into account the man’s early guilty plea and his cooperation with the police investigation.

The court recommended that the Prisons Director at Corradino Correctional Facility prepare a re-education program for the man, who has been entered into the sex offenders register. It also ordered the destruction of the exhibits in the case.

Defence lawyer Benjamin Valenzia is understood to be filing an appeal against the sentence.