Update 2: Man jailed 10 years for raping 7-year-old niece

Bill Khan

Nov 8th 2009, 18:23

@Jesmond Micallef, does it not scare you that this man could be completely innocent! In rape cases it is always the word of the alleged victim against the allged accused. But the sentence nearly the same as for murder.
Even murder cases suffer the mis-carriage of justice. Research shows this is more so in rape cases . Lets hope there has not been any mis-carriage of justice in this case.

Mark borg

Nov 8th 2009, 05:13

Good sentence!Hope the 10 years are 10 years and not by reductions after 4 his out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesmond Micallef

Nov 7th 2009, 19:21

However one looks at this, this man is downright ......SICK.

I don't know what to comment on the sentence really, but I know that he has been found GUILTY, and that simply SCARES me. If you see what I mean !!!

I hope that this man gets all the help he needs, HE NEEDS IT., ........... HE NEEDS IT !!!!!

May God protect this girl for the rest of her life. ...................She is still 18 years old..............

carmen Vella Gauci

Nov 7th 2009, 14:52

So the man got 10 years max in prison. (hopefully without any discounted years !! ) How many years does the girl get to recover from this experience ??

Darren snipes

Nov 7th 2009, 12:42

who knows whos right and wrong?

Ray Buttigieg

Nov 7th 2009, 12:00

those who are making the argument that the court should have taken in consideration the age of the accused when the crime was committted are making in my opinion a bad judgement. Even at age 12 let alone at age 17, one knows that rape is wrong as much as murder is wrong, so yes at 17 this guy knew what he did was evil and he did it for at least 5 times. There is no justification for such behaviour and the accused got what he deserved.

Darren snipes

Nov 7th 2009, 10:49

ppl do you know the real story?

Joseph Schembri

Nov 7th 2009, 09:47

A 17 year old is certainly not a boy. I see nothing wrong with this judgement except that it highlights the inadequacy of another recent judgement where an older man was imprisoned for having had consensual sex with a 17 year old male with previous sexual experience.

The law must decide whether a 17 year old is a minor or not. As this case amply illustrates 17 year olds are no angels.

edward bartolo

Nov 7th 2009, 08:55

Quote: "It was the trial of a man, for the crime he committed when he was a child. People change a lot in 10 years especially when one transforms from a child to a man/woman."

Since when a boy becomes a man overnight?! The accused was a 17 year old; that is enough for any normal human being to realise what a rape on a 7 year old means.

At the end, what is important, is that the accused was aware of the wrongdoing he was committing at the time of the crime, and not whether he had reached the magical age of adulthood!

However, I do think that the two points raised by the defense were not given enough consideration.

I fenech

Nov 7th 2009, 08:54

what is the maximum penalty for defilement of a minor according to our law?

D.Agius

Nov 7th 2009, 00:56

@adrian aquilina
Obviously the drug importer gets and rightly deserves the longer sentence since he would be doing damage to a whole lot of people and to their families.

M.Pace

Nov 6th 2009, 22:21

Much as I agree with the sentence as he was guilty of very serious wrong doing, there is something not quite clear. He was 17 when he did this, yet he drove her all the way to Hal-Far and raped her in the car. How come he could drive at 17 ? How come no alarms bells were raised in the family when a 17year old boy takes a car (without a driving licence) for long time and drives around with a 7 year old girl. The parents of the boy, who was a minor too, should shoulder some responsibility. I can't help thinking that there is more to this.

S. Pulis

Nov 6th 2009, 21:21

Il-habs m'ghandux ikun post fejn is-socjeta tivvendika ruhha minn min wettaq reat, oxxen kemm ikun oxxen. Il-habs qieghed hemm (suppost) biex bniedem jirriforma ruhu. Ghalkemm kollha kemm ahna nafu li dan ma jsirx ghax il-habs Malti probabli huwa nieqes minn rizorsi umani li jinsabu f'habsijiet barranin fejn dan l-ghan jintahaq. Jalla din it-tfajla, issa li saret il-gustizzja, tahfer lil zijuwha! U tahfer ma tfissirx li terga taghtih xi opportunita jew tafdah. Li tahfer tfisser li lil zijuwha ma ssirx tobghodu u ma tkun tixtieqlu l-ebda deni.

M.Said

Nov 6th 2009, 21:12

Whilst I condemn by all means the actions of the accused, and think of them as horrible, I do think that the fact that he was 17 years old was quite ignored.

All of us must not forget how crazy we were at 17 years and how several years later we condemn our own actions and way of thought. No, I would have never raped a 7 yr old!! ... but there are things that I regret.

It was the trial of a man, for the crime he committed when he was a child. People change a lot in 10 years especially when one transforms from a child to a man/woman.

If this man has changed and never committed another crime since 10years ago, I wouldn't have given such a harsh sentence

D Zammit

Nov 6th 2009, 21:11

If I understood the judgment right, the accused will get 10 years and he has to serve them in full. This was the ruling of the judge.

So, no discounts !

Kevin Sciberras

Nov 6th 2009, 20:31

Actually, this guy got less then 10years. In jail terms 10 years is about 7 years, and if the guy was in Kordin waiting trial, that might be considered at time already served. With the Pope coming and other significant visitors that means the days are further knocked off. Also days are further knocked off when there are elections. So with good behavior expect this guy out in less then 5 years.

A. Saliba

Nov 6th 2009, 19:39

So the guy was 15-16 when he committed the crime....

adrian aquilina

Nov 6th 2009, 19:32

i hope the girl can try and have a life now...what i dont understand in this country is how a drug importer gets a bigger sentence then a rapist or sometimes a murderer... know which two deserve the bigger sentences.....

J. Mallia

Nov 6th 2009, 19:30

10 years? not enough. He deserved much more than that. Why our judges are being so lenient on such horrible cases? This poor girl has a lifelong trauma to live with.

Aaron Sammut

Nov 6th 2009, 19:28

It is a very pleasant news to hear. Authorities should give more importance to such cruel crimes. The victims suffer much more than one normally could imagine. Unfortunately Paedophiles are chronically ill, and this is what the authorities need to unerstand. Paedophiles can be slowed down with tougher legislations but they can never be cured. In order to have a safer society, the authorities should start sharing information about convicted paedophiles.

d borda

Nov 6th 2009, 19:15

10 years!!! After less then 10 years the man will be out again. It will take more than 10 years for the victim to erase her ordeal if she ever will. How can the society ever pay the girl back! A trauma is a trauma. Child rapists in the UK and the US are given life sentences without parole for ruining other people's lifes.

Maria Zammit

Nov 6th 2009, 18:56

I sure hope that the girl will now get on with her life having this token of justice meted out. I hope that he wouldn't ever do this again.

Anthony Caruana

Nov 6th 2009, 18:53

Nice to see 10 years for raping a 7-year-old but rape is rape. Let see if all get the same, not just this one. Becasue i knew someone who commit murder and only got 10 years... but its a nice start

Albert Buttigieg

Nov 6th 2009, 18:50

Without going into the merits of this sad case, credit should be given to the PSD classes and teachers in which this person felt at ease to disclose her nightmare.

Jo Bartolo

Nov 6th 2009, 18:50

he gets 10 years (will be out way before hitting the big four O) and she gets life ..... a sentence which will never be over till the day she breathes her last breath ! and this from her own flesh and blood and in her own surroundings which should be and have been surrounded by the ones who loved and protected her !

Claire Busuttil

Nov 6th 2009, 18:48

Prosit lil din il gurija!!!

J Farrugia

Nov 6th 2009, 18:41

Good at least he will serve now some time in jail to ponder on the wrong he did to this little girl. And I hope he will learn the lesson inside. For me I would have jailed him for 25 years. The wrong he did is impossible to count.

Raymond Sammut

Nov 6th 2009, 18:39

I do not think we can understand how much courage it takes for someone to come out fighting the way she has fought. This must have been quite a scene in the Malta Court according to what is reported here.

Joseph Schembri

Nov 6th 2009, 18:38

Next step after this is to put the man on the proposed sex offenders register and we'll all get to know who he is. What more that way we'll get to know who the girl is too. Then we'll put her on in Xarabank and she can fill us in on the gory details. We'll also be able to stop and gawk at her in the street. (I am being sarcastic in case anyone misses this)

If there is to be a register it MUST NOT be available to the public as some have suggested. The proposed register should only be available to the police and if an employer wants to know if a prospective employee is on it or not he has to ask the prospective employee to go to the police and obtain the go ahead. This is basically what is already in place when we are asked to obtain a certificate of good conduct from the police before being accepted for a post. the present system only needs a little tweaking.

Chrissey Zammit

Nov 6th 2009, 18:28

GUILTY, justice have been done. Lets hope the sentence he gets is a LONG one. Now hopefully this young girl can TRY to get on with the rest of her life with the help of the Profesionals trained to help victims.This young lady will need all the help she can get, after what she has been through. She has been so brave throughout the proceedings.