69-year-old accused of defiling minor denied bail, claims acts were consensual

An elderly Italian man who lives in St Paul’s Bay was yesterday denied bail after he was charged with defiling a 14-yearold girl in his garage last Saturday. The accused told his legal aid that the sexual acts were consensual and that he was told by the alleged victim that she was not a minor.

The accused is charged with performing sexual acts on a minor, corrupting a minor, holding a person against their will and offending the morals of the alleged victim.

Magistrate Grazio Mercieca, presiding over the case, denied the accused bail in the interest of the alleged victim and to ensure that civilian witnesses are not approached to alter their testimony.

Legal aid Benjamin Valenzia argued in favour of bail by pointing out that the accused is close to 70, has been residing in Malta for a long time which would alleviate the fear of absconding, has a clean criminal record and that he suffers from high blood pressure.

Dr Valenzia contested the validity of the arrest because the accused, neither speaking Maltese or English, was made aware of the charges after he was placed under arrest, and not while he was being placed under arrest.

Prosecuting Inspector Godwin Scerri argued that there is no question about the validity of the arrest, and that from the information he received the accused was made aware of the charges at the earliest. He pointed out the severity of the charges and stressed the need to listen to parte civile submissions and hear all civilian witnesses.

The court ordered that the name of the accused and the victim be withheld from publication, in the interest of all parties pending the conclusion of the case.