Justice denied in child sexual abuse cases

Some months ago a Sliema man was found guilty of abusing, for over a decade, two Romanian sisters he had adopted.

He was found guilty but the sentence handed down was very lenient. I then wrote in a letter to The Times, addressed to the Office of the Attorney General, asking whether the AG was going to appeal against the sentence. The Office of the AG, in a letter signed by the then acting AG, advised readers that an appeal was going to be made.

In PQ no. 5608, Carmelo Abela (PL) requested the number of reports of sexual abuses on children during the past two years, how many cases had been brought to court, and the number of times the Office of the AG had appealed against a sentence. The answer reproduced in the article Sexual Abuses On Children (February 6) is shameful.

The Minister for Justice advised that out of the 42 reports received by the police in 2007, procedures were started on 38 cases. Only four cases have since been decided. Out of the 36 reports made in 2008, though procedures have been started in all of them, only two have been decided by the courts.

The Minister for Justice also informed that the Office of the AG had not appealed against any sentence handed down.

Can the Office of the AG explain why it did not lodge an appeal, as it was then reported in the media? Or was the Minister for Justice misinformed?

What about the other 68 cases still pending? When will justice be done?

That the present laws are not sufficient or harsh enough is evident. But to delay further justice is a further abuse on the young victims. A thorough shake-up is necessary.

As I have written before, Maltese justice is not for our children.

Maybe Our Lord will see to it in another world.