A 16-year-old girl who was allegedly the victim of sexual abuse by her cousin for seven years stood by her claims in court on Tuesday.
“It did happen, I swear. I never lied and I will surely not lie about this matter. It hurts when I hear people speak lightly about abuse. They don’t know what abuse is,” she stressed.
The man, now 25, stands accused of raping his underage cousin and engaging in sexual acts with the girl over a seven-year span which ended two years ago.
The alleged rape took place when the girl was 10 years old.
Testifying via video conference while her cousin, the accused, followed from an adjacent courtroom, eyes intent on the monitor and expressionless, the girl recounted the episodes which had allegedly marked her for life.
“Mentally, the events drained me. I used to hear sad songs, sad quotes. I spent long spells crying. I occasionally cried at night pressing my face into the pillow. I faked a smile for seven years. I have a great sense of guilt. My self-esteem has suffered.”
“Why did you wait for seven years?” asked Madam Justice Scerri Herrera.
I spent long spells crying. I occasionally cried at night pressing my face into the pillow. I faked a smile for seven years.
“I lacked courage and besides I feared that it would break up the family,” explained the girl as she recounted how she had made an appointment with a guidance teacher.
Meeting a male teacher at the eighth lesson, before the ringing of the final school bell, the girl had first spoken about exams by way of gradually getting to the actual source of her troubles.
“What do you understand by abuse?” the judge asked.
“Being forced to do something against your will” the teen replied, adding that that was what she had been forced to do once or twice a month by her cousin, eight years her senior. She said he would tap her hand to signal his intentions.
“Why didn’t you tell your mother or aunt?” the judge continued, prompting the girl to insist that courage had failed her and that she did not want to cause a family breakup, which was what actually happened ever since her disclosures.
After recounting in detail the instances of abuse leading to the accusations against her cousin, when asked by the Judge whether she had herself made sexual advances towards her cousin, the girl’s first reaction was “I don’t remember.”
Urged by the judge to tell the whole truth, the girl continued:
“I don’t know what came over me that time. I dropped a hint and he touched my private parts. Then I regretted it.”
Questioned about her relations with her former and current boyfriends, the girl stressed that she had done none of the things she had experienced with her cousin.
The witness explained how she had once confided in her former boyfriend, opening up about her longstanding troubles. It was he who had urged her to speak out about the abuse.
“Is this the truth?” asked the judge. “Yes” came the firm reply. “Do you want to take anything back?” “No,” the girl concluded.
“It was not easy to talk the first time. But now….It’s hard but I’m trying,” concluded the witness.
Earlier in the sitting, the girl’s mother took the witness stand, tense and visibly embarrassed when asked about the girl’s alleged ordeal.
“I’m still shocked. I cannot believe this happened to us- Victim's mother
Nervously gripping the wooden stand, the mother declared “I’m still shocked. I cannot believe this happened to us” she said, pointing out that her daughter, a quiet, reserved child who had never caused any trouble and had never confided in her about the abuse.
She said that all she knew had been relayed to her by the police.
Pressed by Judge Scerri Herrera to speak about her daughter’s alleged ordeal, the woman appeared visibly uncomfortable, red-faced and agitated.
“Abuse. Bad things. He did rude things with her. Sex eh!” she finally blurted out.
“The girl never told me anything and I never noticed anything wrong,” the woman went on, adding that whenever she would tell her daughter to be careful when going out with her boyfriend, the girl would reassure her.
“Don’t worry Ma. I know these things from school.”
Under cross-examination, the girl was asked to explain a Facebook photo of herself with the caption “I’ve got a good heart. But this mouth…”. She said: “I have a good heart, but when I’m angry I can say some things and can be sassy.”
Asked why she had not told the magistrate about the time that she had made advances to the accused, the girl said she was under the impression that she had.
Guidance teacher recalls first meeting
The girl’s guidance teacher testified about his first meeting with the alleged victim, saying she had opened up about her ordeal.
The guidance teacher said he had referred the matter to his superior.
Under cross-examination, the teacher said that before making the referral he had not been told that the girl had a boyfriend at the time, nor that she had once made a sexual advance towards her cousin some two months previously.
The school’s former principal counsellor also testified, explaining that she had never personally spoken to the girl but had spoken to the Child Protection Services at Appoġġ upon receiving the information from the guidance teacher.
“Given that the girl had spoken to her teacher during a brief 20-minute session, interrupted by the ringing of the final bell, when the teacher did not have sufficient time to gauge the full details, didn’t you sense the need to investigate further before making the referral” lawyer Marion Camilleri asked.
“Our job is not to investigate but to create emotional and psychological support. We report to Appoġġ" the teacher said.
“Don’t you check whether the facts are true?” the defence pressed on.
“Our job is not to investigate. Indeed we are bound not to investigate. Our role is to provide therapy,” came the reply.
The trial is continuing on Tuesday with two recorded audio-visual statements of the accused under police questioning back in November 2017 played out in court.
Lawyers Nadia Attard, Matthew Xuereb and Charles Mercieca from the AG’s Office are prosecuting.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Anita Giordmaina are defence counsel.