Man jailed for sexual relations with girl of 12

A 55-year old man from Zabbar was yesterday imprisoned for two years after being found guilty of corrupting a 12-year old girl in July 2003.

The court noted that although the man, Carmel Camilleri, was encouraged by the victim, he should have known better how to behave with a minor and it was the duty of the court to protect vulnerable people.

The court noted that investigations into the case were launched after the victim's mother started to notice a change in her daughter's attitude: she had started staying out late and arguing with her.

One day her mother decided to go and see for herself what she was up to but failed to find her at the place where her daughter had told her she would be.

The girl used to sleep at her grandmother's home in Zabbar but that night, as she came back late, her mother took her home to Qawra.

On the way, the mother questioned her and threatened to take her to a doctor as she suspected she had been involved in sexual relations. The girl then admitted that she had a relationship with the accused.

Police inspector Sharon Tanti, who prosecuted, testified that the victim had told her she was involved in a relationship with "Charlie", from Zabbar, who professed to be 42.

The victim spoke about him as her steady boyfriend and said she had committed sexual acts with him. The two used to go to a building under construction where they got intimate.

Inspector Tanti said the accused used to hang around with the girl's friends, one of whom was his nephew.

A few days before they started getting involved in sexual activities they would cut themselves off from the others and he used to touch various parts of her body.

On one occasion he asked her to accompany him to his nephew's house where he was baby sitting and they ended up in the bedroom where they indulged in sexual acts, the girl told the inspector.

Although the girl said they had sexual intercourse, a medical examination could not ascertain whether this was the case.

The accused told the court that he used to be with friends of the victim and he knew her only by her first name. He said the girl was rather "easy" and she used to flirt with his nephew too, grabbing his hand and placing it on parts of her body in front of her former boyfriend, just to tease him.

Mr Camilleri said the victim told him she was 21 and as she was quite a big girl he did not think she was under age.

He said he hung around with her for about a week and she took him to the building under construction, telling him she loved him.