A 25-year-old man was today given a two-year conditional discharge after he was found guilty of forcing a minor to participate in sexually explicit activities by sending her indecent photos of himself on the internet.

The court, however, acquitted him of defilement and of distributing indecent photos of the victim.

The case dates back to August 26, 2011, when a man filed a report that his 16-year-old daughter had been chatting with the accused, Mario Degiorgio, on the internet. The accused, the father reported, had allegedly sent his daughter indecent photos of himself.

Subsequently, the police raided the residence of the accused and confiscated a laptop computer, three memory cards and a mobile phone. During interrogation, the defendant confirmed that the photos sent to the minor were his own.  He claimed that he had met her that same year during carnival and kept in touch with her through the internet. He even met her in person on various occasions.

On her part, the minor admitted to the police that she had lied to the accused when she told him she was 18-years-old.

During the course of the investigation it transpired that the woman had been raped by another person. Meanwhile the victim had spent some time at Mount Carmel Hospital due to her drug addiction. 

In his decision, Magistrate Joe Mifsud said that after carefully examining the evidence he concluded that the victim was 16-years-old and there were not the elements required by law to find the man guilty of defilement.

As for the photos in question the court noted that these did not feature the victim, and so acquitted the man of distributing indecent material of her.

However, the man was found guilty of forcing the minor to participate in sexual acts in view of the fact that he had sent indecent photos of himself through the internet.

When deciding about the punishment, the court took into consideration the defendant’s clean criminal record. Police inspector Frank Anthony Tabone prosecuted.