A 14-year-old girl who had psychiatric problems falsely claimed she was sexually abused on various occasions while going through a difficult time.

When her parents were separating she had claimed that her adoptive father abused her. At the time she was nine years old.

When she turned 14 and was going through an identity crisis and was confused about her sexuality she claimed she was abused by her mother’s partner, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli noted.

The magistrate heard the case of the mother’s 49-year-old partner, who denied defiling the girl and having sex with her on and before February 2010. He was cleared of the charges on grounds that the girl was not credible, having changed her story countless times.

In a 26-page judgment, the magistrate noted that when the girl testified in court she said that her mother disapproved of her relationship with another girl and wanted them to break up.

Her mother’s partner then offered to allow her to use his mobile phone to contact her girlfriend, on condition she touched his private parts, she further claimed. The girl initially said this happened often and that she also had consensual sex with her mother’s partner on two occasions in her mother’s bed.

When her girlfriend broke up with her, she was shattered and, around about the same time, a man she knew committed suicide.

The girl started having suicidal thoughts and was taken to Mount Carmel Hospital where she spent seven months. Several social workers and psychiatrists spoke to the teenager there and she repeatedly changed her story.

The court has serious doubts as to the truth of the version as recounted by the minor

First she said she was abused by the partner then retracted that version and said she had invented the allegations to get back at her mother for not allowing her to continue seeing her girlfriend.

Then, she insisted she was really abused and that she had retracted her claims because her mother’s partner said he would kill himself and she did not want that to happen.

The magistrate also heard that the girl had problems at school where she had made sexual advances towards other students.

A psychiatrist said the girl had psychiatric problems from a young age and he doubted whether she was telling the truth about the abuse.

“For these reasons, the court has serious doubts as to the truth of the version as recounted by the minor,” the magistrate said, clearing the man of the charges.

Police Inspector Louise Calleja prosecuted, while lawyer Edward Gatt represented the accused man.