A man was acquitted of sexually abusing his partner’s teenage daughter yesterday after a magistrate concluded that the girl’s allegations came about because he disapproved of her boyfriend.

The 54-year-old, who is not being named to protect the identity of the girl, who was a minor, had been charged in 2006 with corrupting her and slightly injuring her.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli heard that problems within the family began when the girl, then aged 16, started a relationship with a 20-year-old man whom her mother and her long-time partner disapproved of.

In January 2006, her boyfriend filed a report with the government agency Appoġġ, claiming his girlfriend had been beaten by her mother’s partner.

He retracted his allegations the next day but the agency still investigated and spoke to the girl, who told care workers she had been abused by her “step father” since she was nine.

She alleged he had touched her intimately and forced her to touch him, adding that he would beat her when she refused to work in the family bakery.

In considering the evidence, the magistrate said she was faced with two conflicting versions, with the girl claiming abuse and the accused completely denying the allegations.

She noted that the girl’s siblings had all spoken highly of their mother’s partner saying he brought them up as a father.

They also underscored the fact that their sister was close to him and that problems started when she started dating the boyfriend.

They also said she had since moved out of the house due to the problems.

Magistrate Demicoli noted that, in his first report, the boyfriend did not mention any sexual abuse but when he testified he claimed that the man had exposed himself to her in his presence.

“The court is convinced that the real motivation behind the report against the accused was the fact that he, along with the girl’s mother, disapproved of the girl going out with her boyfriend” the court concluded.

The judgment comes two days after another man, who was serving a two-day prison term for sexually abusing his daughter, was temporarily released from prison after his former wife was charged with making up the allegations.

His daughter is also expected to be charged with perjury.