Suspended jail term in rape case

A man who confessed to raping a 16-year-old girl was jailed for two years, the sentence being suspended for four years.

The man, whose name cannot be published by court order, was charged by Police Inspector Yvette Farrugia with having raped the girl in Birzebbuga in 2001. He was further charged with corrupting a minor, with having detained her against her will, with offending public morals, with using violence against the girl and with threatening to kill her.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera noted that the accused pleaded guilty to all the charges against him in the court sitting of May 31. The girl had testified that she had been in a relationship with the man for the past nine months and that they had a child together. She declared to the court that the accused had changed his ways and that she forgave him and did not want him to be jailed.

The magistrate deplored the crime of rape and corruption of minors but noted that the girl had formed a relationship with her aggressor and that they had a child who lived with the mother. In these circumstances the court could not deliver a harsh penalty. However, on the other hand, the court did not wish to give the impression that a person who committed such type of crime was not liable to punishment, though each case had to be judged on its merits.

The accused was therefore sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for four years. He was also placed under supervision of a court appointed officer.