A man has been cleared of committing sexual acts with his 11-year-old daughter and exposing her to pornography involving animals after a magistrate found that her version was not credible.

The court heard that the allegations against her father only surfaced three years later after the two had fallen out because he disapproved of her relationship with a boy.

The 56-year-old man from Fgura persistently denied any of the allegations made against him by his daughter.

The court also heard his other children in his defence.

The court heard how the girl told the mother about the alleged abuse in January 2012, claiming it had taken place in the summer of 2009.

The mother immediately reported the matter to Appoġġ.

The girl claimed that her father had shown her pornographic films, some of them involving animals, and that he had repeatedly asked her to perform sexual acts with him.

She also claimed that, on one occasion, her father placed her hand on his genitals to show her how he was getting excited watching porn.

Testifying through video conferencing under oath before a magistrate, the girl claimed that her father had offered her €20 and an entire month off school in return for sexual acts with him. She also claimed that her father had once threatened to kill her mother if she told her about what was going on. Magistrate Audrey Demicoli heard how the mother laughed at her daughter when she told her about the pornographic films her father was showing her.

She tried to halt proceedings, another sign she was lying

But the mother denied the claim, insisting she immediately reported the matter to Appoġġ.

The magistrate heard how the father and daughter had fallen out because he did not approve of her boyfriend, with whom she was having sex. It was also after this incident that she made up these stories about her father, in a bid to get back at him, the magistrate said.

The magistrate also noted how the girl had tried to halt proceedings against her father, another indication that she was lying. She also found it strange how the girl claimed she was wearing a fur coat during the alleged abuse, when it was meant to have taken place in summer.

Given the inconsistencies in the girl’s testimony, the court cleared the father of the charges brought against him, also after noting that the police never found any pornographic films in his possession, as his daughter had alleged.

Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha defended the man.