Man jailed for running a brothel

A man was jailed for a year and fined €450 today for running a brothel in Sliema.

Tarcisio Agius, 51, of Paola, was convicted of running a brothel at Berkley Hotel in Howard Street, Sliema but acquitted of living off the earnings of prostitution.

Police Inspector Louise Calleja said she had placed the hotel under observation and a raid was conducted on November 16, 2003. Four girls and some men were found, including Mr Agius. Three of the girls were Ukrainian and one was Bulgarian.

Two of the men said they had paid Lm15 each for sexual services given at the hotel.

Olexandra Stepanenko, one of the girls found in the raid, testified that she was staying at the hotel and had prostituted herself some four time so that she could buy an air ticket to go home. She would ask men for between Lm15 and Lm20 each time and paid Lm8 for a room, bed and breakfast. She said she had not paid anybody else.

Anther girl, Tatiana Montak, said that when she arrived in Malta on October 3, 2003, she went to the hotel and had given sexual services, although she was not forced to do so. She said she paid Lm12 for her room, the payments being made to the accused or somebody else. She would get paid between Lm6 and Lm17 for prostitution.

When questioned in court, Ms Montak said she did not know that this hotel had such a bad reputation.

The prosecution then asked what reputation, and the witness said that even a child knew about this hotel. She said no one from the hotel management used to introduce her to the men for prostitution purposes.

The court in its considerations said that none of the prosecution witnesses had declared that the accused received money from men for sexual services. It was clear that the girls lived at the hotel and had offered sexual services.

The accused was the manager of the hotel. It was evident that he ran the hotel, practically single handed, and therefore, it was clear that he knew exactly what was happening and had become notorious as a supplier of sexual services by East European prostitutes and the prices were well known.