A film crew member was yesterday acquitted of sexually assaulting an extra he met on set after he gave her a full body massage in which she claimed he touched her intimately.

The 39-year-old Maltese man, who cannot be named by court order, was exonerated after Magistrate Audrey Demicoli did not believe the 24-year-old woman’s version of events.

The court heard that, after receiving the massage, on October 4 last year, she had taken a shower and also helped the man with a problem on his computer before leaving and catching the bus home.

Magistrate Demicoli said that she found the girl’s behaviour following the massage to be strange and not the sort of thing a victim of sexual assault would do in the apartment of her alleged aggressor.

Testifying, the girl said that she was having a conversation on Facebook with the accused and commented how tired and stressed out she felt when he invited her to have a massage, the man being a qualified masseur. She replied that she could not afford it but he said it would be free of charge.

During the massage, she said he touched her intimately twice before she told him to stop.

The accused denied the allegation, adding that at the end of the massage she gave him a €10 tip to cover the cost of the oils he had used.

He described her as a difficult woman on set and said that she was attracted to him and this was the reason why she had fabricated the story.