A nursing aide was today charged with filing a false report that his estranged wife had inappropriately touching their 14-year-old son and of using Facebook chats to blackmail the woman.

The 36-year-old man from Zurrieq, whose name cannot be mentioned to protect the identity of the minor, denied filing the false report on August 27.

The court heard that the teenage son will be arraigned before the juvenile court after police investigations into the report revealed that the story had all been made up.

Police Inspectors Roderick Spiteri and Chantelle Casha charged the man of unlawfully gaining access to his estranged wife's Facebook account, downloading data and then used the documents to blackmail the woman into signing a separation contract as he wanted it.

They further charged the man with illegally reporting a crime to the police when he knew that the report was false and the crime had not taken place. He was also charged with committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent in his role as a public official.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri heard the police inspectors object to the granting of bail, given that the woman still has to testify in the case.

But defence lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili insisted that there were no grounds to deny bail. Dr Dalli explained that the couple had separated last year. While the 14-year-old boy was living with his father, another two children were living with the mother and there was absolutely no communication between them.

Magistrate Camilleri upheld the request, granting him bail against a €1,000 deposit and a €5,000 personal guarantee. He was ordered to sign the bail book twice a week and to be home between 8pm and 6am the following morning. The magistrate also issued a protection order in favour of the estranged wife.