A court heard how a 16-year-old girl was forced into prostitution by her mother's lesbian lover and used to entertain four to five clients a day for a year and a half.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani heard how the girl was sexually involved with a 53-year-old Serbian national from Birżebbuġa who was found guilty of defiling her and of taking part in sexual activities with her throughout June and the preceding months.

He was jailed for six months.

Police Inspector Raymond Aquilina testified that he had been instructed to assist social workers from Appoġġ investigate allegations of a girl forced into prostitution.

The girl had gone to them claiming that a former girlfriend of her mother's had been beating her up and forcing her into prostitution. The girl told the court that this was not the first criminal case she was involved in, recounting an experience where a member of her family had exposed himself in her presence.

It transpired that when the girl was 15, following arguments between her and her mother, she moved in with her mother's former girlfriend.

The girl told investigators she was engaging in sexual activities with clients of her mother's former girlfriend in her flat, in cars and in the client's homes.

At first, the girl was allowed to keep all the money but after some time her mother's former girlfriend would take all the proceeds leaving her with nothing. The girl told police she was paid €25 for services rendered in a car and €50 at the client's residence.

The girl identified a client who lived in Birżebbuġa and said she would visit his flat twice weekly. The man categorically denied having sex with the girl but said he was only a client of the former girlfriend of the girl's mother and that he met the girl at the local boċċi (bowls) club.

The girl got infected with herpes.

Handing down judgment, the court noted that the "girl's mother admitted in open court to have traded in prostitution and felt no compunction in allowing her daughter to live with a woman who had accompanied her in the trade of prostitution, with whom she had a lengthy lesbian relationship".

The court said: "The girl was certainly corrupted by her practice of prostitution but the continued sexual services proffered to the accused for payment effectively contributed to the further corruption of the girl".

The court banned publication of all names to protect the girl's identity.

Police Inspector Raymond Aquilina prosecuted.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto was defence counsel.