Priest charged with defiling 15-year-old girl, claims blackmail

A priest charged with defiling a 15-year-old girl with whom he had a four-year sexual relationship claimed he was blackmailed by her.

The 40-year-old cleric, who cannot be named by court order, pleaded not guilty this afternoon before Magistrate Josette Demicoli to charges of defiline the now 19-year-old woman, when she was still a minor.

The charges relating to defilement of a minor date back to June 2017 when she was still 15.

Prosecuting police inspector Joseph Busuttil told the court that the police had only recently learned of the case after the woman was referred to them by the Church's Safeguarding Commission.

She had reported how she had been in a consensual sexual relationship with the priest, which had begun when she was 15.

The inspector explained how the girl had said that they had participated in various sexual activities but not full intercourse.

As the offences allegedly occurred a few months before she turned 16 - the age of consent in Malta - the priest had to be charged, said the inspector.

But defence lawyers Benjamin Valenzia and Stephen Tonna Lowell claimed that their client was being blackmailed by the woman who did not want the consensual relationship to end.

They said the woman wanted the priest to marry her, get her pregnant and leave the priesthood, threatening him that if not, she would go to Archbishop Charles Scicluna and the police. She also allegedly threatened to inform the priest’s elderly parents about the affair.

The prosecution confirmed that the man had got himself into a vicious cycle of blackmail that he could not get out of.

The court accepted a request for a ban on the publication of both names, to protect the identity of the alleged victim as well as a ban on details which could lead to their identification.

Magistrate Demicoli upheld a request for bail against a €1,000 deposit and a €7,000 personal guarantee. She also ordered the priest not to speak to any of the witnesses in the case. A protection order was also issued in favour of the alleged victim and her family.

Inspectors Joseph Busuttil and Dorianne Tabone prosecuted.

Lawyers Stephen Tonna Lowell and Benjamin Valenzia assisted the accused.

Safeguarding Commission statement

In a statement, the church said that the Safeguarding Commission took the necessary action, without prejudice, to safeguard all parties and passed on the case to the Police to investigate.

“The Commission follows the principle that every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” they said.

The church said that it encouraged all those who know about any alleged abuse to report directly to the Police and to contact the Safeguarding Commission on [email protected].