Updated, Adds Superintendent's testimony:
A 27-year-old man this morning went on trial accused of raping and corrupting a seven-year-old girl.
The case happened 10 years ago but the girl only told her parents when she was 12 or 13.
The case was described by prosecutor Nadine Sant in her opening statement as 'disgusting'.
She said that the man, who was 17 years old at the time, used to live with his mother. Every Saturday the girl's mother would drop her daughter at her grandmother's house. On various occasions, he had sex with her. On one occasion he took her in his car and forced her to commit lewd acts.
The first incident happened shortly after her first Holy Communion.
Dr Sant told the all-male jury that they were going to be shocked with the testimony of witnesses in the trial, which is not expected to last more than two days.
CASE DESTROYS FAMILY
Superintendent Sharon Tanti said that in June 2004 a young girl had recounted abuse she had suffered at the hands of her uncle. She would sleep at her grandmother's where the accused would live as well. He would take her up on the roof, to clean out the pigeons, and he would tell her to take off her pants. He would then perform lewd acts, touch her private parts and try to have sex with her. She would hurt a lot but he would keep on doing it. Once he heard people coming up the stairs and told her if she said anything he would throw her from the roof. This was her earliest memory of the abuse.
The superintendent said the victim never changed her version. There were different occasions when the same thing happened. One time he took her into his bedroom and again had sex. Another time, he forced her to have oral sex at Hal Far.
The truth started to emerge when the girl was at a secondary school and attended a personal and social development lesson about sexual abuse. She told a friend about what had happened. They decided to tell her friend's mother, and then the friend's mother called the victim's mother. The case was then taken to the appogg agency. A medical doctor confirmed that the girl had had had sexual activity.
The superintendent said she had interviewed the accused and he later issued a statement denying everything and claiming that the girl was a liar.
Superintendent Tanti spoke about the impact of the case on the family. The victim's mother was 'torn and broken' about the case her father (the victim's grandfather) was not talking to her any more, she said.
The girl at one point wanted to stop everything because she felt it had caused division within the family. People who had been close to her were now fighting each other.
When the accused was given bail after having been taken to court, the mother turned up at police headquarters with a document saying the girl wanted to withdraw her allegations and stop the case. The girl was claiming she had lied in order to attract attention.
At the time the victim's mother was living at her mother's house because even her own family had broken up.
There was then another change of mind and the case was continued.
The trial is being presided by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, who imposed a ban on the names of the accused, the girl and witnesses, in order to protect the identity of the girl.