A man was yesterday charged with raping the eight-year-old daughter of his former partner while the girl’s mother was out prostituting herself some six years ago.

Emanuel Schembri, 49, from Valletta, who has two more pending cases against him for sexual abuse of minors, was also accused of corrupting the girl, who has since turned 13, performing sexual acts with her and of violent indecent assault.

He was also charged with committing a crime during a suspended jail term and relapsing.

Mr Schembri allegedly raped the girl after her mother left her with him while she worked the streets, sources close to the case said.

Legal aid lawyer Yana Micallef Stafrace asked Magistrate Anthony Vella to grant her client bail. She also requested a ban on the publication of his name because it might lead to identification of the victim and he was scared of her family.

Police Inspector Sylvana Briffa objected to bail precisely because the accused and victim live in the same street, so tampering with evidence was a very real possibility.

The inspector also objected to a ban on publication of Mr Schembri’s name because the relationship between the victim’s mother and the accused had ended years ago and as such there was no connection with the victim.

She added that there were pending cases against the accused for sex abuse involving minors. Magistrate Vella denied bail and also turned down the request for the ban.