Woman jailed for prostituting daughter

A woman was yesterday jailed for three years for prostituting her 13-year-old daughter six years ago.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who condemned the 59-year-old woman's behaviour as "irresponsible and selfish", also found her guilty of living off the earnings of prostitution on and before November 1998.

The magistrate heard how the police had been informed that a young girl was calling out for men and offering herself for prostitution in Valletta.

Officers went on the scene and found a 13-year-old girl who explained she had sexual relations with the men in exchange for money.

The girl told the police she was paid according to how far she went and explained that she never had sexual intercourse. She then passed the money on to her mother to buy food and cigarettes.

She explained that her mother sent her with the men who took her to their house. A certain Paul Aquilina, she added, picked her up from school (when she went) everyday and paid her Lm2 in exchange for sexual favours.

The woman said she knew that her daughter had relations with men in exchange for money but did not know what she did while with the men. She explained that she lived on the monthly Lm38 in social benefits and on the money her daughter gave her.

On evaluating the case, Magistrate Scerri Herrera ruled that the charges brought against the woman had been sufficiently proven. Despite the fact that the woman had a relatively clean criminal record, the magistrate felt she should hand down a severe punishment that reflected the "abhorrent" crime.

Moreover, now that the daughter was 20 years old, her mother's imprisonment would not affect her as much when considering the trauma she went through because of her mother's irresponsible and egoistic behaviour.

The name of the woman is not being published to protect the daughter's identity.

Inspector Sharon Tanti prosecuted.