Charged out of proportion

I refer to the news item Alleged Sexual Assault On Toddler Blown Out Of Proportion - Court (September 11). I feel sick to my stomach knowing that this is the justice system that I'm supposed to trust.

Hats off to Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano whose good sense came right in the nick of time. But although Mr Justice De Gaetano saved the day, to read that a mentally disabled man - or as the courts put it, a person suffering from "an age inappropriate level of cognitive function across both the verbal as well as non-verbal domain" - was put through a year and a half of court proceedings and the terrors that come with it, sentenced to a three-year jail term suspended for three years, and then only after appealing his case is he found to be cognitively disabled and guilty only of not minding his own business, sent shivers down my spine.

According to the report, on May 25, 2006, the accused was at Ramla L-Hamra beach where there was an English couple with two children. When the mother changed her 21-month-old boy, and left him on a towel with no clothes on, the accused noticed that there was sand on the child. Having communication problems due to his disability, he over gesticulated to draw the mother's attention and touched the child's private parts in full view of the child's family. The mother filed a police report which consequently led to sexual assault charges and a three-year suspended jail sentence.

That the mother filed a police report is somewhat understandable but that the police didn't find out about the accused's condition prior to pressing charges and dragging him to court for over a year is absolutely revolting. If they knew about his condition but did not think it a justifiable excuse to drop all charges, then I'm even more appalled and worried. And finally even our court ends up finding him guilty! Absurd is an understatement.

To add insult to injury, the same page of the same publication carried another story entitled Man Assaulted Wife And Daughter, whereby a 56 year old man who admitted to having a problem with alcohol abuse, and assaulting and slightly injuring his wife and daughter was sentenced to three years probation and Lm100 fine against default!

I rest my case and you do the sorry math!