A Gozitan man who preyed upon a 15-year-old boy to satisfy his sexual drive was jailed for five years and placed under a treatment order on Thursday.
The sexual abuse came to light during a conversation between the boy and his mother. The 15-year-old had explained how he met the 50-year-old man at a place they both often frequented. He had made it a habit to step into the bathroom, stark naked, whenever he spotted the teen having a shower.
After befriending the boy and getting on closer terms with him, the man had requested the boy’s telephone number so as to keep in touch.
True to his word, the man had invited him to his home to show him his pet bird and ‘lovely dog’ .
But when they got there, the man had engaged in sexual acts with the 15-year old. The acts took place on three occasions.
Joseph Haber, 58, was accused of defilement, holding the minor against his will, violent indecent assault and engaging in sexual acts with the boy.
In the course of proceedings, the boy testified about the alleged events, his version corroborated by a number of other testimonies including a social worker, police officers and three civilian witnesses.
Magistrate Joseph Mifsud concluded that all the accusations had been proven, save for the second charge of having held the victim against his will.
On the strength of the minor’s testimony, there was no doubt that the activity engaged by the accused had amounted to libidinous acts, the court declared, thereby concluding that defilement, the violent indecent assault and the sexual acts with the minor had been proven.
The court declared Mr Haber guilty and condemned him to a five-year jail term, while placing him under a three-year treatment order so as to address his sexual drive towards underage persons.
The court also issued a three-year protection order in favour of the victim, while ordering the accused’s name to be registered as a sexual offender.
Finally, the court issued a ban on the publication of the name of the minor, his relatives and the place where the abuse took place so as to avoid identification of the victim.