Man jailed for sexual acts with boy

Joseph Schembri

Oct 24th 2009, 20:49

This case has a parallel in England where a married man was sentenced to two years imprisonment for 'lewd' acts with young male prostitutes.

The name of the man was Oscar Wilde and the case happened over one hundred years ago in Victorian England.

Oscar Wilde, had to escape to more liberal France even after he served his cruel sentence. He is buried there now where thousands of fans visit his Parisian grave every year. The English bow their heads in shame at what their 'justice' system did to this genius. I am sure that in the not too distant future the Maltese judiciary and legislators will blush in shame at the sentence handed out to this Maltese elderly man.

I wait in hope that the appeal that he files will see the asinine laws repealed. The Hon Franco Debono nationalist MP has been entrusted by our prime minister to look into our laws. I am sure that this bright politician and lawyer will make his voice heard on such unjust laws.

Meanwhile I hope that the 62 year old man is not in prison already.

M Attard

Oct 24th 2009, 19:36

I agree in some of you saying that at 17 years of age one is mature enough not to go back to such a person, however, one must admit that not all teenagers this age are. What would we say if it was our son? I have two young children and if someone abused of them I would certainly not put blame them. No matter the circumstances, sexual abuse is not something tolerable.

Ray Buttigieg

Oct 24th 2009, 17:32

@ s. sciberras
it does not seem that this particular lad passed through much trauma did he. As reported in this case he had at least had sex 10 times with the older man and had other sexual experiences. If i or anyone experiences a sexual advance which is not warranted I would report it and not go back again and again to the person who arguably abused me. I still contend that this story proves how revolting homosexuality is still viewed in this country and its law courts.

Paul Bonnici

Oct 24th 2009, 12:55

It sounds a barbaric and medieval to send a 62-year old to prison for having consensual sex with a 17-year old man.

At the age of 17, one is mature enough to make sound decisions on sexual matters. In most Europeans countries the age of consent is 16 years, it is about time that Malta fell in line with other European countries.

This man's life is destroyed and he certainly does not deserve such a harsh punishment. This will also be very costly for the government to keep a man in prison for one year.

What will actually be achieved by putting this man behind bars?

s.sciberras

Oct 24th 2009, 11:36

how can you all say that it could be this boys fault, and this 62 yr old man only got 1 yr!!!, god knows how many other cases there is like this happening on these islands...ithink malta needs to wake up...we all say we go to church and we believe in god...i thinknthis man should get jailed for 5 yrs and a clinic should be opened for children who pass from this trauma..

Joe Xuereb

Oct 24th 2009, 01:34

cont./ But a judge could easily be over-zealous in his judgement, let us say, with a religious slant and goes literally by the book rather than living at 'street level' like you and I (this is Malta after all). And disappointing, but not surprised, that some commentators make no secret of their disgust, - shock/horror! - that a man should consort with a young man (I refuse to call him a boy).
@ Marthese Mussett. We all know there are seventeen-year-olds being promised a lucrative career beating other seventeen-year-olds to pulp. And they do, they do. They are ambitious. And they have your approval because anything's better than a man embracing a man. Am I right? or am I right? Jaqq! indeed. You never thought of that one I bet.
Ramon Casha. I remember I was a scruffy little thing and I walked into the Avukat tal-Kuruna's office asking for a copy of Maltese Law relating to homosexuality. He treadted me like I was dog-shit. I told him that it was difficult to get such a document. He thought he was smart and said 'Malta fuq l-irxoxt nitkellmu' (it was Holy Week).
I took the document and ran.
Nothing's changed.

Joe Xuereb

Oct 24th 2009, 01:16

@ Ramon Casha. Thanks for the information. It did not reassure me much but thanks anyway.
These debates rages for decades in UK when the age of consent for homosexuals was 21 from 1967 (previously illegal and criminal). The age of consent for heterosexual was 16 so we argued that young men could die for their country, vote at 18 but not bed whoever they wanted. We argued that a young woman could do whatever at 16. The implication was that somehow, a man's sexuality was more fragile/more important/worthy of more protection than a woman's. The age of consent was eventually lowered to 18 and then 16. It took years and years.
I am concerned about this seventeen-year-old. Sounds like he's been round the block a few times. It is a shame the reportage is not more detailed. If I know anything about seventeen-year-old - and I do after 45years in social work - I can well imagine a corrupt seventeen-year-old seeking payment for his favours, blackmail. Naturally, I am not saying this is the case here.

Ray Buttigieg

Oct 23rd 2009, 21:38

this case exposes certain interesting issues. Firstly is the question of 'age of consent' How practical is it today to have an age of consent at 18? This is only causing hardships to a lot of people.

second is the issue of sexual orientation. if the case was between a male and a female would the courts gone so far as to imprision one of the participants. I dare say it would not even have been reported.

Third is the issue of prostitution. It is reported that the young man accepted money. Why was he not prosecuted. If it involved a girl in gzira surely she would have been prosecuted.

Finally male sexuality is more complicated than a lot of people would think. This is an area for psycologists and sociologist and should not be let alone in the sphere of lawyers. The distinction between pedophilia and pedestry is hardly ever explained in Malta, the former is illegal in all of europe whilst the later is accepted and allowed through a lower age of consent laws in EU.

I hope that this case starts a healthy debate on our attitudes towards sexuality in general and male sexuality in particular

Joseph Schembri

Oct 23rd 2009, 20:08

The case i am highlighting below involved corruption of a 13 year old. The sentence as handed out by the judge in the court of appeal was a suspended one:

http://docs.justice.gov.mt/SENTENZI2000_PDF/MALTA/TA%27%20L-APPELLI%20KRIMINALI%20%28INFERJURI%29/2009/2009-07-09_135-2009_56080.PDF

Joseph Schembri

Oct 23rd 2009, 19:51

"Corrupta non corrumpitur" is a valid argument in favour of the older man (the victim in my opinion) but a later judgement said that a corrupt person can be corrupted further so the last judgement is open to interpretation.

The magistrate in question is most often handed such cases and I think it is dangerous for the justice sysyem to have one magistrate consistently handling one type of alleged crime as this creates a scenario where all her judgements cannot be compared to similar cases and she becomes de facto an authority.

One must remember that the only requisite for becoming a magistrate in Malta is 10 years of practice as a lawyer. One must also keep in mind that Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici could not find a suitable female candidate for the Europeam court of human rights but had to bow to pressure to include a woman whether she was more or less qualified than male candidates.

Joseph Schembri

Oct 23rd 2009, 19:41

@James De Giorgio: It could be that the 17 year old who took advantage of the 62 year old. If the 62 year old is homosexual then the 17 year old took advantage of his 'weakness' by asking for money for sexual favours.

This verdict raises several human rights issues including discrimination because of sexual orientation and more importantly the issue of ageism.

James De Giorgio

Oct 23rd 2009, 19:15

I can't be certain since the dates are rather hazy, however it does seem a case in which the accused should have been imprisoned.

Why?

The article states that the boy is 17 years old. Hardly a boy, but anyway that's beside the point.

Point is, the article mentions "and the preceeding YEARS"... years, not year. Therefore the minimum meant for years must be equivalent to "2 years". 17 minus 2 = 15. Could also be 14...

In which case I believe the sentencing is correct.

62 year olds shouldn't take advantage of 15 year olds. Neither 17 year olds for that matter. It's perverse.

John A. Zammit

Oct 23rd 2009, 19:13

I think that this case qualifies under the legal principle of "Corrupta non corrumpitur" i.e. a person who is already corrupted cannot be corrupted any further. This principle was first held in our courts by Judge Maurice Caruana Curran in the case Police vs. G. Portelli. According to what is stated above this young man ( a 17 year old can in no way be considered to be a boy) had had sexual experiences before this case, so how can one say that he was defiled by this 62 year old man.

Mario Attard Trevisan

Oct 23rd 2009, 18:44

This is ridiculous! Its clearly not a case of Paedophilia! A man with a clean conduct have been accused of sexual acts with a 17 year old with previous sexual experience who has been questioned for allegedly abusing a younger person......and who gets publicly ridlculed and jailed??
IS THERE ANY JUSTICE ON THIS ISLAND????

Joseph Schembri

Oct 23rd 2009, 17:28

This case has a parallel in England where a married man was sentenced to two years imprisonment for 'lewd' acts with young male prostitutes.

The name of the man was Oscar Wilde and the case happened over one hundred years ago in Victorian England.

Oscar Wilde, had to escape to more liberal France even after he served his cruel sentence. He is buried there now where thousands of fans visit his Parisian grave every year. The English bow their heads in shame at what their 'justice' system did to this genius. I am sure that in the not too distant future the Maltese judiciary and legislators will blush in shame at the sentence handed out to this Maltese elderly man.

I wait in hope that the appeal that he files will see the asinine laws repealed. The Hon Franco Debono nationalist MP has been entrusted by our prime minister to look into our laws. I am sure that this bright politician and lawyer will make his voice heard on such unjust laws.

Meanwhile I hope that the 62 year old man is not in prison already.

marthese mussett

Oct 23rd 2009, 13:02

Jaqq Jaqq u JAQQ!!

Philip Sultana

Oct 23rd 2009, 10:41

It seems the Maltese mature later than other European countries. We are unique, along with Turkey and Kazakhstan, in setting the age of consent at 18. In the rest of Europe the threshold is 16 or younger (Republic of Ireland being the exception: 17 years).

roberto bordino

Oct 23rd 2009, 09:42

if everyone having sex with seventeen year olds was put in jail in Malta, half the island would be in jail

Ramon Casha

Oct 23rd 2009, 05:50

The article does not make it clear what was the age of the "boy" when the acts took place. The way I understand it, he was 17 when the acts happened (and is now much older) - in which case, to me he was a man not a boy, had had sexual experiences before, and had consented. If, however, he is 17 now and the acts took place when he was much younger, that's a different story.

@Joe Xuereb: Technically, the age of consent in Malta is 12 - that is the age below which it is illegal to participate in any form of sexual activity irrespective of the minor's consent. However there's another law which deals with "defiling a minor". The law defines a minor as anyone below 18, but does not define what it means to "defile" someone, so a magistrate could find someone guilty of this crime even if they were just kissing passionately.

Gordon Farrugia

Oct 22nd 2009, 22:46

that seems to be the way in malta - jail for having sex with a 17 year old (i don't call that a boy)

YET

if you are in pv and someone injures you and you end up with some 15 stitches in your face then the court will only give a suspended sentence to the accused!!!?? what justice is this!!!?

Anne Marie Bonello

Oct 22nd 2009, 22:22

@ E.gatt and J Micallef

potential danger for other kids???
come on kids younger than him are being engaged in sexual acts, with or without him being around, also the rate of sexual abuse to minors is more than any of you think, so probably a high percentage of the maltese are 'dangerous'...

@ Joe Camilleri
you are absolutely right, people seem to have not realised that he was younger than 16 when these things happened, and so yes it would make it paedophilia

Stephen Borg Cardona

Oct 22nd 2009, 22:08

Was the "Boy" a seventeen year old when they had sex or was he younger ?

Joseph Schembri

Oct 22nd 2009, 21:55

The age of Consent in Italy - just 90 km away is 14 years. In the UK it is 16 and in Spain it is 12. Only in Malta and some Islamic states is it set at 18 years. Nowhere in the civilised world does the 'justice system' make criminals out of perfectly decent people.

It is only now because of the abhorrent custom of marrying so late in life have we started to consider sexually mature adults as 'children'. Until quite recently a woman was considered a failure if she was not married by 15 or 16.

I speak out of a purely biological perspective here: nature designed humans to make babies from the early teens onwards. It is an established fact that the most fertile and the safest years for producing babies are the late teens. The law as it stands in Malta goes against what is natural.

In Italy, Berlusconi... a man in his 70s goes around with 17 year olds while in Malta such people are called paedophiles and imprisoned.

J Micallef

Oct 22nd 2009, 21:03

I too agree with T Bone. Still, we only read a tiny part of the sentence, so these are only part of the facts and god knows what may be behind it all (though I'd hate to know).

E Gatt also made a very valid comment. This 'boy' could be a potential danger for other kids, so what action is being taken as a deterrent?

Charles Grixti raised a curious point too - what if the 'victim' was a girl? Still, we dont know the whole story so very difficult to pass comments.

All in all, I understand the preoccupation of parents, though.

mary ann borg

Oct 22nd 2009, 21:02

The interesting part for me is "and the preceding years". How long had this been happening? How old was the boy when it started? It makes all the difference.

o.galea

Oct 22nd 2009, 20:57

as distasteful as this is... it is no worse than an old man (or should I say fool) going off with a 17 yr old female with her consent.....

This young man of 17, by his own admittance, had previous similar sexual experiences....

I would be more concerned with the behavior of the 17 yr old.........

Ray Buttigieg

Oct 22nd 2009, 19:12

So in this country it is legal to employ a 17 years old, legal to let him/her marry, legal to let him/her smoke and drink, legal to join the army and legal to go into nightclubs yet it is a punishable offence to have sex. Please note that Malta is the only country in the western world where the age of consent is 18. The only country with the same age in Europe is Moslem Turkey. This is not a verdict against pedophilia. If it was i hope the person would have got more than a year. This is a verdict against sexual freedom in general and homosexuality in particular. Would the police have persecuted if the older partner was female...i am sure not...thats accepted since its aheterosexual act.

Dave England

Oct 22nd 2009, 18:57

The article said he participated in sexual acts with a 17-year- old boy in 2008 and the preceeding years. So presumably that's at least 2 years, so the boy was only 15 when it first started. Below the age of consent in all civilised countries.

Joe Camilleri

Oct 22nd 2009, 18:34

These sexual acts have been going on for years preceeding 2008 (according to the article) so the boy was much younger than 17 when it happened.

DVella

Oct 22nd 2009, 17:33

jailed for just one year????? There is something seriously wrong with this country when it comes to dealing with penalties for sexual crimes ! ! !

H Dempster

Oct 22nd 2009, 16:12

@Tonio Bone. Good writing and well said.

Joseph Schembri

Oct 22nd 2009, 16:03

This is not a case of paedophilia. At 17 years old a man in Malta can join the army, drink alcohol, and get married!

Lower the age of consent from the ridiculously high 18 that it is in Malta to at least 16 - which is the age at which people in Malta can legally get married and make babies.

The 62 year old should not be in prison for having had sex with another man... and one with previous sexual experience!

E.gatt

Oct 22nd 2009, 15:25

The 'boy' is a dangerous person for other children if some sort of treatment is not given especially when he is a grown up.
Being investigated by police will not keep him back from other sexual encounters in the future.

Joe Xuereb

Oct 22nd 2009, 15:07

What is the age of consent in Malta?
Paedophilia is despicable. Manipulating another person, regardless of age and gender, into an unwelcome sexual act, is heinous. This boy was seventeen. He was experienced in matters sexual and allegedly sexually abused a person younger than himself. His 'abuser' has been sent down for a year. Something does not quite add up. And before I am shot down, I am only quoting from the article. Unless the seventeen year old is mentally retarded (we are not told), should he not also be charged for abusing a minor even though he is a minor (boy) himself? I have to assume here that the age of consent is eighteen.

Tonio Bone

Oct 22nd 2009, 14:33

This subject is extremely delicate and perhaps one should be very careful in writing comments. I won't enter the merit on the entity of the judgement given by Magistrate Padovani, but it's a positive step to see that the name of the offender was published. From what I read this is perhaps the worse punishment you can give this kind of people....making them public!
Having said that I do hope that the law goes down real hard on repeat offenders!

Michael Neville Cassar

Oct 22nd 2009, 14:26

Well done Magistrate and also the police good work .What is now needed is to register thesePaedophiles so that we can protect our children from these miserable rats

Charles Grixti

Oct 22nd 2009, 13:58

Now let us see the courts dole out the same sentences when the victim is a girl.

There is something wrong with the Maltese courts here. Nearly almost all cases where the victims are female, even if they are younger than the victim in this case, the accused invariably ends up with a suspended sentence or minimal jail time.

Are the Courts subconsciously subscribing to the theory that the girl must somehow brought it on herself? I wish that someone was keeping statistics on this but from what I am seeing reported in the news there is a double standard going on, biased against female victims.

A. Saliba

Oct 22nd 2009, 13:50

Is this some kind of joke? Jailed for a year for having sex with a "boy"?

t. borg

Oct 22nd 2009, 13:37

17 is adult in eu countries. if it was with his concent than we are banana republic. we are already over burdened with taxes for prisoners and illegal immigrants.

T.gauci

Oct 22nd 2009, 13:32

mind blowing