A once homeless man who repeatedly sexually abused a girl, 7, whose mother had appeared with him in adult films they produced, was yesterday jailed for six years.

The 49-year-old man abused the girl on several occasions in January 2009 and the preceding months, sometimes while she slept and, on one occasion, at his friend’s house.

The court banned publication of the girl’s name and that of her relatives, including her brothers, who testified during the proceedings.

The man’s name is being withheld to protect the victim’s identity.

The man spent some time living at Dar Suriet il-Bniedem, a home for the homeless in Valletta, but had been dating the girl’s mother, with whom he also made adult movies.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli heard the girl was one of eight siblings raised in Church-run institutions since she was just 18 months old. The police began investigating when the girl spoke to one of the nuns about her ordeal.

She had even told her brothers about it. One of them already knew about it because he had witnessed it while feigning sleep.

The girl testified in court that the first time she was abused was at her mother’s home in Marsascala.

On one occasion she was asleep and her aggressor woke her up, removed his trousers and then hers, put her on his knee with her back towards him and placed his hands on her private parts. She said she told him it hurt but he persisted.

The girl said her mother was never around when the abuse took place. It often happened at her grandmother’s house, too.

She said the man often stuck his tongue into her mouth and warned her of consequences if she were to tell anyone what was going on, threatening to beat her and members of her family.

The girl said her mother suspected something was going on when she once saw her naked and asked her what was happening, to which the victim replied “Nothing.”

In her judgment, Magistrate Demicoli said that although the court was faced with conflicting versions of what had happened, there was no reason to believe that the story was made up.

It was “normal” for young children who had experienced abuse to mix certain details due to their young age. The victim had said that the abuse happened several times but her brother stated that it had only happened once. In other parts of her testimony, the girl said she was not wearing her pyjamas and her brother said she was when he had witnessed the abuse.

However, this was of no concern to the magistrate, who had watched recordings of her testimony by video conferencing several times to study her body language and ascertain that she was telling the truth.

The magistrate ordered that the man’s name be included in the sex offenders’ register. Police Inspector Louise Calleja prosecuted.