Father charged with defiling his two daughters

A man from Zurrieq was granted bail after pleading not guilty to defiling his two daughters, aged 10 and 11years. The 36-year old man was charged with engaging in sexual activities with, defiling and harassing the two minors.

Prosecuting inspector Sylvana Briffa explained to the court that the police received a report from Appogg, claiming that the man repeatedly touched his daughters' genitals.

“The two girls told their guidance teacher that this happened almost daily, and had been going on for a number of years. However it was only now that the girls started understanding that this was wrong and spoke up at school”, the inspector said.

“I’m not going to give weight to the instances when he took them to swim and held the towel up for them to change, but while it is true that the accused touched the girls, this was never done maliciously”, defence lawyer Edward Gatt said.

“The accused is going through a family dispute and it could be the case that what was always deemed normal is now looked at with a different perspective”, he said. Dr Gatt requested bail.

Inspector Briffa replied that while not objecting to the bail request, the court had to ensure the safety of the two minors, who live with their parents. However the defence informed the court that the accused is ready to move into an apartment in St Julian’s, away from his home town of Zurrieq.

Magistrate Antonio Vella granted the accused bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000. The court also placed both minors under a protection order.

The names of the accused and the victims are banned from being published by order of the court.