Man, 53, jailed for defiling six young nieces

A 53-year-old man from Zebbuġ was today jailed for six years after being convicted of defiling six nieces aged between 10 and 14 in 2003 and in previous years.

The court heard how on February 13, 2004, the mother of one of the girls had gone to Appoġġ and the police to report that her daughter and other children had been sexually abused by their uncle.

On March 17, 2004, another child filed a police report about the same matter.

The mother told the police that she suspected that her brother-in-law was using the girls for extramarital affairs.

When she discussed the matter with her daughter, the girl burst into tears and told her mother what had taken place. The girl was 16 at the time but the abuse took place when she was 14.

The mother then spoke to her other daughters and discovered that they had the same experiences.

All the girls gave evidence and the court said it was clear that they were still traumatised by what they had gone through.

The accused told the police that the children had all been incited to invent a story because their parents were angry and wanted revenge after they claimed that he had an extramarital affair.

The court said this conspiracy theory could not be believed. The children were always consistent in their evidence and psychological examinations confirmed that they had been abused.

The court noted that the abuses described by the children included fondling of their private parts, indecent exposure and masturbation by the accused. The children had also received vulgar SMS messages.

The accused intends to appeal.