In the late 1990s, the Times of Malta reported a criminal case involving a man from St Julian’s who had sexually molested a 10-year-old boy. The man was sentenced to four years in prison and sent to jail right away

No pious Catholic pleaded “human frailty” on his behalf, as Catholics often do when Catholic priests are guilty of the same crime. No Christian came up with the stock phrase they always use to defend their priests: “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone” (while forgetting what Jesus said regarding those who scandalise children).

This newspaper recently reported the case of a Gozitan priest who “had been charged with performing lewd acts on three minor girls, violently and indecently assaulting them” (June 29). During the court proceedings, it was alleged that the priest tried to kiss one of the girls “during confession”.

Another girl observed that the celibate priest had the mannerisms of a “boyfriend”. A further allegation was that “he had pulled one of the girls close to him and, fondling her, uttered the words ‘cosy, cosy’”.

The priest “was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years, after being found guilty of molesting an underage girl”.

The law is a spider’s web that catches the little flies and lets the big bugs escape.