Waylon Johnston
‘Raped niece, 7, four times’
Grandfather ‘threatened’ victim’s family
Disturbing details emerged in court yesterday during the trial of a man accused of raping his seven-year-old niece more than once on the roof of his mother’s house.
The man’s name, names of witnesses and the place where the alleged crime took place have been banned from publication to protect the identity of the victim who is now 17 years old.
The 28-year-old man, who was 17 at the time, would pretend that he wanted the girl to help him clean out the fowls’ coop on the roof of his mother’s house, the court heard.
It was there, in 1998, that he told her to undress, performed a sexual act in front of her, touched her and then had sex with her “not just once but four times”, Nadine Sant, the lawyer from the Attorney General’s Office, told the jurors.
“This was all done when nobody was at home. Imagine the feelings if your own daughter had to tell you this,” she added as the all-male panel listened intently to her opening speech.
The accused threatened to throw the girl off the roof if she said anything to her parents, Dr Sant said.
It was only when the girl started personal and social development lessons at school, when she was around 12 or 13 years old, that she confided in a friend about what had happened to her.
The victim asked a friend to tell the friend’s mother, who then called her own mum to break the news gently.
After that the family – mother, step-father and daughter on one side and accused, brothers and their father on the other – began to feud. The girl’s grandfather stopped speaking to his daughter (the mother) and granddaughter, while his sons (brothers of the accused and of the victim’s mother) began threatening their sister and the girl, Dr Sant said.
Taking the witness stand, Police Superintendent Sharon Tanti said the girl had never changed her version but had at one point retracted her police statement because of the intense threats and pressure from her uncles.
Supt. Tanti said the girl had felt she was the cause of the family break-up and in fact her mother and step-father had even separated for a while because of the fighting.
She described what the girl had told her, giving graphic details of how her uncle had touched her, on one occasion even having sex with her in his bedroom.
The last time that it happened was when he first took her to Ħal Far and forced her to perform oral sex on him. After that she refused to go to her grandmother’s house again, her friend said.
A doctor’s certificate was exhibited in court where the family GP had examined her and found that her hymen had been broken. However, he could not say how because it was so many years later.
Taking the witness stand, the girl’s step-father said he had seen bruises on the girl’s body because one of her uncles had thrown stones at her when she was leaving school in an attempt to scare her into stopping the case.
“We received a lot of threats from her grandfather. One of the uncles even threatened us and he filed police reports against us,” he said.
Lawyer Joe Mifsud appeared for the accused.
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JMizzi
Nov 4th 2009, 07:54
Yesterday in Saudi Arabia a so called person was convicted by the Saudi courts of raping 5 young boys,and left one of them a 3 years old to die in the middle of the dessert.
He was decapitated in front of the family members of the victims than his headless body was hang for everyone to see.
THis is what such animals deserve for abusing our children.
S Atlamyob
Nov 3rd 2009, 18:12
The jury is still out here.
Nobody knows the circumstance surrounding what may have or may not have happened.
“A person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law,” and even then one’s fate is directly related to the quality of defense one can afford, notoriety, and even gender.
We don't know that this incident happened in the way it is described in print, or do we know if and how many mitigating circumstances such as age, state of mind, and cognitive capacity, etc, will be, or are evident in the case.
I hope, for everybody concerned, that it is just a young child's imagination gone a little wild, but we won't know for sure either way, and until we do, it's better not to speculate for the sake of the families involved...
@ Saliba
I'm relatively sure, that in cases such as described in the above story, legalized prostitution would not be a significant factor; however, I do believe in legalized and taxed prostitution.
As others have pointed out, it would cut crime, greatly increase taxable revenue, and for many of us, it'll be a lot less expensive and far less grief than archetypal dating ;^)
E.gatt
Nov 3rd 2009, 17:46
Child abuses DO happen in our real neighbourhoods and families. We as adults have to protect them and take action. Children are helpless.
If found guilty this 'animal' should never be forgived by the society. Convicted rapists very often than not do it agian for the second time.........
They should be put in a mental institution for lifetime or else castrated.
S Debono
Nov 3rd 2009, 14:42
If found guilty, name, shame and castrate him.
@T_Borg, I agree that parents should be more careful who they leave their kids with, but they should not be required to. Moreover, this guy was not a stranger, but family. All who defend him are accomplices.
It is a pity it took so long for this girl to speak up. Obviously not her fault. But this is why schools should teach certain basics. The earlier parents are alerted, the less harm done to the person's psyche.
Caroline Muscat
Nov 3rd 2009, 14:41
I hope that the grandfather and his sons are all put behind d bars if the uncle is found guilty...such act shall not be forgotten easily, at least not for the poor girl...!! SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!! Caroline Muscat (Mosta)
K Debono
Nov 3rd 2009, 14:21
Let's cut out the "this is a sickness" parade. He knew it was wrong - he allegedly always made sure they were alone and threatened the child to hide his perversion. What he allegedly did was a crime and he should be punished accordingly. Any psychological help he needs he can get while serving his (hopefully long) sentence. And shame on the family members who allegedly threatened the girl and her family!
Chris Mifsud
Nov 3rd 2009, 14:12
Shame on any of you who bring religion and forgiveness into this .
If found guilty of what he is accused of , this person who could have been 15 , 17 or 27 when he commited these acts deserves nothing less than life in prison .
No forgiveness , he is a danger to children and should be named , shamed and imprisoned .
Relgion and forgiveness will not make this person any less of a danger to children and somebody like this does NOT deserve a second chance ... EVER!!!
Ernest Vella
Nov 3rd 2009, 14:08
Protecting or defending a child abuser makes who protects him...grandfather and uncles included also guilty of the same offense and the court must take drastic decision for justice main duty is to protect those who are weak...in this case a child...still children must have place were they can speak freely about there problems, there questions etc so that no abuse will happen anymore
amifsud
Nov 3rd 2009, 14:07
@t.borg.....If guilty, this guy is a pedophile, nothing to do with what he saw on the internet...except for maybe getting ideas from other pedophiles. He is not a rapist. Maybe we should introduce chemical castration.....nothing else seems to stop these people.
Robert Azzopardi
Nov 3rd 2009, 12:43
So sad, what this kid went through is horrific but it is admirable that she stood her ground and stayed strong fighting for justice. Conversly her grandfather and uncles were poisonous in the sense that in order to protect the family's honour they went against the victim. Did I seriously read that one of the uncles threw stones at the little girl??? Baffled and confused, Islam might not be the religion in Malta but the behaviour and mentality sure has parallels!
With regards to the accused, if he is guilty he is clearly mentally sick and should be helped in every way possible so as not to be a danger to society. Once again brave girl indeed!
jennifer stevens
Nov 3rd 2009, 12:23
As a mother and grandmother I know exactly what I should like to do to this despicable person if he is found guilty. he would deserve nothing less, however I wont explain here but leave it to other readers to assume what I am implicating
George Busuttil
Nov 3rd 2009, 12:16
@Chris Mifsud
I have always thought that we usually send sick people to a hospital and not to prison
t. borg
Nov 3rd 2009, 12:14
Is a 17 year old considered as a minor? Why all this hatred? Parents should guard their children well especially with all this pornography in the internet. This minor done a big mistake but every one can do a mistake or another. How right Jesus was when he said "the one without sin throw the first stone" come on lets all grow up. No names should be mentioned as this will only harm the victoms.
Christian Sciberras
Nov 3rd 2009, 12:00
Becky Zarb - Keep dreaming.
The heroes you speak of do not blab on media.
They are little known Acting behind the scenes most of the time.
The heroes are those that have clean up the mess citizens force upon them.
Heroes are those that try to heal the scars of society.
The rest? I really can't say it didn't serve them right. It's the society we live in, either accept it (as most do) or find your destiny elsewhere (as some rare ones do).
colin stanley
Nov 3rd 2009, 11:28
If the man is found guilty, he should go to prison,and also named and shamed. What would happen, if in the futurea man with a different culture to ours, marries a seven year old , here in Malta, will it be allowed or for biddened ,according to our laws?
Michael Neville Cassar
Nov 3rd 2009, 11:10
If what I read is true the grand father and her Uncles need to be put all in jail as they are a danger to the victim. I hope that the police will take further action.
ABORG
Nov 3rd 2009, 11:07
additionally, i also hope that those family members involved in trying to obstruct the course of justice so that the court case will not be exposed will also be punsihed.
Chris Mifsud
Nov 3rd 2009, 11:05
Anybody who does something like that is sick and should not be regarded as a human .
If found guilty , he should be sentanced to life in prison and should have his idenetity revealed .
Also if found guilty , the grandfather and the other family members accused of threatening this poor girl should also be sent to prison .
ABORG
Nov 3rd 2009, 10:54
After reading all these details and judging from the serious nature of the case, i hope justice will be done!
Anna Farrugia
Nov 3rd 2009, 10:51
Is the 'alleged' crimial going to get a slap on the hand like they usually do?
If guilty, he should get life in prison - the victim has a life sentence!
Chrissey Zammit
Nov 3rd 2009, 10:44
If guilty, this monster needs locking up and the key thrown away. He threatened to throw her off the roof !!! perhaps he should be thrown off the roof, to save the Maltese tax payers having to pay for him he is in prison.
I hope this girl gets all the HELP she needs to enable her to carry on her life the best she can.
Becky Zarb
Nov 3rd 2009, 10:41
This girl and her family deserve heaps of praise and support from everybody for sticking to their guns and fighting for justice. I really hope that this girl receives the compensation she deserves - above all in the form of a conviction that is fair.
These are the modern-day heroes; the people who fight for justice and don't give in to fear and threats. We can only imagine the trauma they've experienced and the willingness to give up..yet they fought on...and against family - the hardest of all!!!
Claire Said
Nov 3rd 2009, 10:24
Poor girl.. as if the torture of being raped was not enough :(