Girl, 15, made up defilement claims
A court has ruled that a 15-year-old girl was "inventing" when she claimed that a 43-year-old man had defiled her.
The man, a resident of Mtarfa, was found not guilty of defiling the girl, holding her against her will and offending public morals.
The girl had alleged that the incident happened in January 2004.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli observed that the prosecution had based its case on the evidence presented by the girl. Other witnesses were not present at the time of the incident and had also based their accounts on what she had told them.
The girl had said that the accused was her uncle and she had known him all her life. His home, which was close to her's, was her second home.
She used to speak to his wife about the problems she had with her parents.
On January 17, 2004 she had gone to his house to help her cousin with her make-up. She could not go out because of a punishment by her parents, and had therefore gone to the house wearing a jacket over her pyjama.
When he returned from work, she joined him as he drove his daughter to a disco in Rabat. When her cousin left, he joked in a vulgar manner. He suggested that they go for a drive and she agreed.
He stopped at an isolated place near Mtarfa where, she said, he fondled her. He also exposed himself.
She asked him to stop and could not believe what was happening.
He then took her home and she promised him she would not tell anyone. However, later that they she phoned a friend and told her what happened.
Her friend eventually persuaded her to speak to a school counsellor and to the Helpline, but made sure her parents were not told. The allegations were however reported to Appogg, who called in the police.
The girl claimed that she had previously gone out with a boyfriend for nine months but they had no sexual relationship. After the break-up on one occasion she drank vodka to drown her problems.
The court observed that during cross examination the girl was vague on what she told the counsellor and contradictory in some of her remarks.
The accused had strongly denied that the alleged incident had taken place and he could not understand the reasons for the girl's claims. He denied telling her vulgar jokes or groping her.
His wife confirmed to the court that he had returned home promptly after driving their daughter to the Rabat disco. She herself had warned the girl not to be out long to avoid being punished by her parents.
She said she had not detected any change in behaviour by the girl after the alleged incident. In fact, whenever the two families went out, she always asked to travel in their car, instead of her parents.
The girl, she said, used to complain that her parents mistreated her, but her parents said she did not tell the truth.
Another witness, the girl's former boyfriend, told the court that the girl could not be trusted because of her 'continuous lies'. She used to tell him that his friends would flirt with her, something which they strongly denied. Furthermore, contrary to what she had said, they had had a sexual relationship as from the first week. She had also told him that she had been abused by another uncle in Gozo, and had also claimed that a school bus driver also tried to abuse her. However, her description of the man was not true.
The court concluded that the evidence given by the girl could not be believed because she had lied under oath before the court and contradicted herself. She was far from convincing in her evidence and had avoided questions on the reasons why she went for counselling sessions and about her sexual relationship with her boyfriend.
It had resulted that the girl had a history of making up stories and making serious, false, allegations to attract attention, the court said.
The court imposed a ban on the names of those involved in the case.
Popular Stories
Update 3: Woman found dead in car,...
Updated: Woman dies in car crash
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Part of Dwejra 'Azure window' collapses
The end of the bar that ‘never closed’
Bundy does not know whether to...
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
This WAS the night - Kurt makes it...
'No need for early election if PM's...
In Discussion
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
Gozo tunnel could take 5-7 years to...
CABS remote controlled aircraft shot...
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Joseph Calleja condemns portrayal of...
Updated: Labour would give...
CABS drone shot down
Second group of migrants arrives
Adrian Vassallo in scathing...
56 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Pule' Carmel
Jan 14th 2011, 19:26
If you want to be a liar, make sure that you have a good memory as to what lie you used with whom!
K Vella
Jan 14th 2011, 17:22
This is an eye opener to us all....
nowadays, this abuse accusations is abused in all ways.
Justin Spiteri
Jan 14th 2011, 07:55
That's really stupid, this girl actually put herself in the spotlight for all predators, knowing that from now on, whatever she will say will not be believed!.... talk of "titfa' l- gebla fuq saqajk" ...
Anthony Dimech
Jan 14th 2011, 05:36
Kids today watch too many movies!
Mario Borg
Jan 13th 2011, 17:06
Shame on her!
This is a reminder of how important it is to treat a person as innocent until proven guilty - something we find difficult to do especially where crimes of a sexual nature are involved.
Joe Xuereb
Jan 13th 2011, 16:50
The case affords me the opportunity to expand on a proven theory of mine.
People in Malta are big on words like compassion, forgiveness and so on. Of course being uninformed, and being kept infantile, they sin again, go to confession only to sin yet again. And so it goes on. Church teaching does not get too embroiled in teaching the psychological ramifications/consequences of sin (unless we are talking of divorce when it goes on and on about the suffering of children of divorcing parents). Quite apart from whether this girl did tell lies or not, it is not difficult to understand the terrible repercussions that telling lies does. With this insight into the heinous sin that is lying, who in his right mind would continue lying? The same can be said of forgiveness. One must always get the person being forgiven to admit to whatever they are being forgiven for. If one does not elicit an admission of wrong-doing and apology, the person who has been wronged runs the very real risk of seeing their self-respect go down the pan. Insight into the implications of sin are crucial if one isn't to multiple repeat sinfulness.
Food for thought.
Mary Anne Abdilla
Jan 13th 2011, 16:19
No one cares to do a DNA test or some sort of test that maybe can help the court to be more accurate?! What as If the girl use to lie and she didn't lie for this situation !! Are there any types of people to help the girl about all this ?!
d castillo
Jan 14th 2011, 09:08
a DNA test for what?? for groping?!?!!
Bernard Bezzina
Jul 12th 2011, 15:15
hehe do you know what a DNA test is or what it is used for?
jane deguara nee hughes
Jan 13th 2011, 11:26
now she has dragged her family through the dirt, from 2004 to 2011, i think she needs a good kick up the back side, and how come its taken so long to get the truth out of her, i feel sorry for the man involved, it could have split his marriage up.
tpiscopo
Jan 13th 2011, 11:07
attention seeking ...... doesn't necessarily mean she was mistreated by her parents so was looking for attention elsewhere ........ she's probably a pathological liar, judging from what her parents and her ex-boyfriend said ........
also most probably she only meant to tell her friends and get their compassion and attention, it probably got a little bit out of hand when she was made to call Appogg, who obviously will take action and report that kind of thing..
regardless, she should be punished and assessed psychologically, it's not healthy to invent such stories.
Alastair Ives
Jan 12th 2011, 23:57
but that seems enormously prejudicial to me and I can't see any good reason why it would be allowed into evidence in any substantial way.
Alastair Ives
Jan 12th 2011, 23:55
Is the girl being charged with giving false statements or not?
By all means giving false statements such as this is very serious and if guilty she should be punished, even as a minor. But all I get from the article is that the uncle was acquitted, which only means the court wasn't able to establish beyond doubt that he is guilty. His acquital does not mean he is innocent (you don't have to prove innocence) and it does not not mean the girl was found to be lying, only that her testimony wasn't reliable enough to convict.
The defence may have claimed she was lying and indeed the magistrate may have been sympathetic, but if the magistrate did directly pronounce her testimony as false as this article claims then he overstepped his role - that is an issue for a seperate trial, one in which she is the defendent being charged with slander, wasting police time etc.
I'd also love to know the relevance of the question of whether she was sexually active with her boyfriend. I can't claim this with great certainty having not seen the transcript and thus the context
Franco Farrugia
Jan 12th 2011, 21:15
Nobody has mentioned the fact that these lies from this girl are also harming real victims who come forward.
M. Fenech
Jan 12th 2011, 22:38
Please don't mix different cases. This case is closed following all the necessary court procedures, and the conclusion was that this girl invented alot of lies to harm this man. Other cases doesn't have any connection with this case, and in no way should a case influence another case. That is why a person should be INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, and not the other way round.
Steve Cassar
Jan 12th 2011, 21:02
"...and had therefore gone to the house wearing a jacket over her pyjama."
Pyjamas, in the plural, that's the correct use of the word. Just like trousers, pants, tights, suspenders, socks, stockings, and so on.
This article is very poorly written and replete with grammatical errors.
K Bugeja
Jan 13th 2011, 00:18
...which has a lot to do with the significance of the article.
D.Galea
Jan 12th 2011, 19:28
This man's name would have been put on a sex offender's registry during the trial had it been enacted, How does one undo the possible consequences of that, food for thought.
Joseph Schembri
Jan 12th 2011, 18:01
If I were the man in question I'd find a good lawyer and open lawsuits against the police (for spurious arraignment and not doing their work well), the Minister of justice (for allwoing this court case to drag for years), and finally against the girl and her parents.
I'm sure that he wants to put teh nigtmare behind him but he can at least try to get something out of the hell he has been put through and if not for himself for all the others who will be accused since busy bodies like vice squad, appogg etc measue their success by the number of 'defilement' cases that they 'discover'. The more abuse they tell the government there is - the more resources (= money) they get. They also get work resources like trips abroad for conferences to 'learn' about abuse etc.
lulu gatt
Jan 12th 2011, 20:16
tider li vera ma tafx xint tghid!! nies li jahdmu l-appogg lanqas paga sura ta nies mghandhom u computers bizzejjed ghall kullhadd biex iwettqu xologhom ahseb w ara kemm qeghdin isierfru lhemm u lhawn minn fuq dar il-gvern!
jekk ma tafx kif jahdmu certu affarijiet ahjar tghalaq halqek bir rispett kollu. il problema fdan il-kas mhiex li jiftah kawza kontra l-appogg u l-pulizija hekk imisshom issa l-pulizija joqoghdu bil biza ta xi kawza jekk il kas taghhom jaqa ha nispiccaw ahjar ghax ma jibdew iressqu li hadd ilqorti. ilproblema qeghda fdin itifla li ghal xi raguni jew ohra qeghda taghmel minn kollox biex tigbed l-attenzjoni!
Joseph Schembri
Jan 12th 2011, 20:57
The police have been known to be 'over eager' to solve cases. And I repeat what I have said about child protection agencies. They are the same the world over - they can only justify their existence and therefore their salaries if they discover cases of abuse. I may know more than you about the matter because I know too well what is happening in other countries such as the US of A in these matters. As regards conferences - it may not be Cetta who washes the floors at some appogg centre who gets perks....
Pauline Abela
Jan 13th 2011, 10:10
@lulu gatt. Agreed 100%. At Joseph Schembri, you've just written the biggest load of crap I've ever read. If what you wrote happens, no one will ever be charged on anything. Of course, the girl did VERY WRONG and there should be both appropriate repercussions for her and also psychological assistance. I certainly feel for the man involved. He should never have been put through what he has. It's not fair yet I don't know what the appropriate answer is. I hope he'd at least get his legal costs paid. Some may not agree that taxpayers should foot the bill but I doubt it's fair to put it on the parents. I agree, it's not fair on taxpayers either. If possible, she should contribute some though that is unlikely to be a deterrent to other people her age.
Joe Xuereb
Jan 12th 2011, 17:40
Where DO I begin?
Young woman - she may be only 15 but she's behaving like a bitter septuagenarian. It's her hormones you see - young men are afflicted too by the way - and she inhabits a world where lying is perfectly acceptable to one to make headway. She drank vodka to 'solve' her problems, engaged in sex act when she's under age (no doubt she'd say she was coerced into this), she demonises her parents and prefers the company of this other family but only to manipulate them to her own ends (what could be more innocent to gain access to this famiy than by offering to help their daughter with her colourful face-slap). This young 15-year-old needs serious help. And the family of the victimised man should sever all contacts with her and keep her away from their daughter, absolutely. She has her mother to help with make-up. Or learn by trial and error. Make-up is not important anyway. It's only a mask.
One's tempted, very tempted, to call her all the names under the sun. For everybody's sake, principally her own, I'd rather point her in the direction of a good therapist before she destroys herself.
p.grima
Jan 13th 2011, 00:07
The problem is not only that she is doing harm to herself, it's that she tries to harm others too.
Is the work of Appogg concluded now that there was no proof of defilement? This girl and all involved need therapy.
Joseph Schembri
Jan 12th 2011, 17:16
That is why the age of consent for sex should be lowered from the abnormally high 18 yrs that it is set in Malta - the highest in Europe. Had the age of consent for sex been 15 as is the average in Europe, this man would not have been trough hell. He is probably still going trough hell because being accused of something that is so universally abhorred is no easy matter, I personally know a person who committed suicide when a minor lied about having had sex with him. Others lose their job, their families, their health and their sanity.
This would not have happened had we had a more reasonable age of consent. The only person holding this little change in legislation back is the minister of Justice - Dr, Carm Mifsud Bonnici. He knows about the situation but for some reason he does nothing about it.
B.Attard
Jan 12th 2011, 16:36
Hekk sew tinqabad tigdeb taht gurament u qisu ma gara xejn. Dik gustizzja. Dawn affarijiet ta kuljum fil-qrati taghna.
Kieku dak ir-ragel ma kellux il-fiducja ta martu kienet tkissirlu z-zwieg. X'kellha x titlef?
Ramon Casha
Jan 12th 2011, 16:08
This is why names should not be published until/unless the accused is found guilty.
Robert Callus
Jan 12th 2011, 17:33
Perfectly agree. The consequences on this innocent man would have been tripled. Even after he was exonerated from the "crime" people would still think "he might have done it" and treat him with suspicion.
Criss Camilleri
Jan 12th 2011, 15:57
And yet no 'Order' was issued so that this teen will be given treatment, so that she will not cause another problem to someone else.
Franco Farrugia
Jan 12th 2011, 14:44
There should be a punishment for such a hideous girl. Her lies could have brought a whole family to pieces, not to mention the person concerned. So, the message being imparted is that because you are a minor, you can get away with murder. This is a clear example of a minor actually abusing an adult!
Robert Busuttil
Jan 12th 2011, 14:32
Jail term for the liar.
Melvyn Mifsud LLD
Jan 12th 2011, 14:17
Yes true ... 15 is all one can say.
But likewise an innocent person may spend the same 15 ( or somewhat less) years behind bars - erroneously condemned on the basis of a pack of lies or misconceptions.
The process is not an easy task and I always appeal to all readers and the public at large not to pre-judge any cae but allow due process of law.
M. Fenech
Jan 12th 2011, 14:15
What about if this INNOCENT man's name was put down on the infamous registry that is being proposed??????????? This case has happened 7 years ago! How long has the procedures in court has been going on? With the new registry aperson is GUILTY until proven INNOCENT,and this is something against the fundamental human rights of each and every individual. I'm sure that there are going to be alot of idiots who invent stories to put other people's life in big trouble, just wait and see!!!! I hope that our Parliament will be wise enough before introducing the above mentioned registry, and that common sense will prevail, to say the least. people who are full of envy, will have alot of fun with registries like this. Is the girl going to face procedures in court, or they will let her go as if nothing has happened? Laws are there for EVERYONE, I hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rbuttigieg
Jan 12th 2011, 19:28
very well said !!!!! .......and as things are certain sections of society are becoming overzealous to prosecute a man. If she levelled such accusations she knew very well that she s gonna be believed so no innocent young girlie crap, such youngsters need to resposabilized for their actions, and the man sue for damages from all concerned.
M. Brincat
Jan 12th 2011, 14:09
The Court should not ONLY free the man who has been found not guilty, but also order this ... let's limit ourselves to call her ... teenager ... although other denigratory names would suit her better!!! ... to repair the damages caused!!!
B.Pace
Jan 12th 2011, 14:08
Tafu kemm qed tkun spissa din l istorja f kazi ta separazzjoni ????? U ma jkun hemm xejn hlief gideb !!!
C Bartolo
Jan 12th 2011, 14:05
thats the sort of thing that can destroy an innocent persons life!
J SImpson
Jan 12th 2011, 13:42
/miskin dak ir-ragel....kef igibuk fl-inkwiet !!!!! She should be punished !!
K. Camilleri
Jan 12th 2011, 13:40
She should be put in jail as she had laid under oath.
She also placed her uncle under heavy stress and under one of the most serious allegations, this has to be paid for, when the child grows older.
We currently live in a world where a person can claim being abused and ruining other innocent people's lives.
This is utterly unacceptable behavior.
Ivan Vassallo
Jan 12th 2011, 13:38
Just imagine if instead of a man, there was a priest who was accused. There would be a whole carnival going on it.
A Vella
Jan 12th 2011, 13:38
I think that this 15 year old girl is just behaving this way because she seeks some sort of attention being always in problems with her own parents. She is trying to atract their attention indirectly.
A Abela
Jan 12th 2011, 13:38
And what about the school councillor? She should be held responsible for making this innocent man live in a hell because she did not check out what happened, but just hurried up to report the case to the police. A CASE WERE PROGRESS IS REGRESS
T. Camilleri
Jan 12th 2011, 16:13
School counsellors are obliged to report such cases to the Child Safety Services. It is not their job to investigate whether cases are true or not. That is where Appogg then comes into the matter and they investigate the case. In such cases, the school counsellor has not option but to refer the case to CSS,
T Vella
Jan 12th 2011, 20:55
Can it be that they are putting all kind of scrap into children's minds and make them think that they can take revenge of somebody by reporting him to the police?????????????????????????????????????????????? A YES OR NO ANSWER PLEASE.
Rosalie Spiteri
Jan 12th 2011, 13:29
What a rotten little liar! She should be punished!
Ivan Vassallo
Jan 12th 2011, 13:39
Totally agreed!
E Micallef
Jan 12th 2011, 13:54
perhaps she needs love and attention ... it said she had problems with her family .. could it perhaps be the case that she needs to be affirmed .. who knows why she acted in this way ?
S. Agius
Jan 12th 2011, 16:49
Min jaf kieku ghamlitha lilek sur micallef!!
E Micallef
Jan 12th 2011, 18:14
@ S Agius .. I am not a Mr .. and I am not agreeing with what she did ... what I said is that her actions are probably a cry so that she will be listened to and taken well care of ...
rbuttigieg
Jan 12th 2011, 19:31
@e.micallef.....so you excusing her?? or trying to find a reason for what she's done ? oops i forgot, the perpetrator this time is a lady sorry
K. Vella
Jan 12th 2011, 20:20
So she just wanted to be taken care of, while potentially ruining the career, reputation, and marriage of a perfectly innocent man.
E Micallef
Jan 13th 2011, 09:17
I said that I am not excusing what she has done simply saying that she should be taken care of and to investigate what made her act in such a way and why she has become a compulsive liar ...
C Zammit
Jan 13th 2011, 12:08
@E Micallef
Don't bother trying to explain yourself over and over again. Most people here only comment to say their part without understanding what others are saying.
I know exactly what you mean and given her age you could be right. It easy to feel abandoned and unloved at that age, but she took it to an extreme level.
Christian Sciberras
Jan 12th 2011, 13:28
15...that's all I can say...
A. Gauci
Jan 12th 2011, 13:43
Is not like every 15 year old shall not be believed. This is one of what I believe, many.
Christian Sciberras
Jan 13th 2011, 20:30
A. Gauci - It's not that, it's that 15 is very young for that stuff. One wonders where all catholic Malta has gone in cases like this one.