A man has been charged with violent indecent assault after allegedly slapping the bottom of a language student he was hosting at his home.

The 71-year-old man, who cannot be named by court order, appeared in the dock before magistrate Monica Vella earlier on Wednesday, charged with violently and indecently assaulting a Colombian student on July 14 at his home in Siġġiewi.

Inspector Roderick Agius told the court how the 17-year-old student and school representatives filed a report at the Qormi police station on Tuesday. 

She told police that on July 14, when she arrived home, the accused had welcomed her with a kiss on the cheek. He had wanted three kisses but she felt uncomfortable and said no. 

When she bent over to take off her shoes, he had slapped her buttocks, the inspector reported.

The girl, who is due to leave Malta this week after spending a month on the island, pointed out the accused in the courtroom, saying that she had been living in his house for three weeks. After the incident, she had spoken with a school representative, who promptly moved her to another host family, she said.

Asked by defence lawyer Mark Fenech Vella how she had reacted to the slap, she said: “I didn't know what to do, I was in shock.”

“No one else was in the room at the time,” explained the girl. “It was in the evening at around 9pm.”  

It only happened one time and was not accidental, she added.

The lawyer asked whether she was aware that the accused and his wife kissed their guests on the cheeks. She replied that the man’s wife had welcomed her with a kiss – but not him.

Inspector Agius told the court that the man was a recidivist. During questioning, the man at first denied touching the girl, but later conceded that he might have done so “by accident”, he explained.

He confirmed that the school told the police that no previous reports had ever been received in relation to the host family in question.

The man entered a ‘not guilty’ plea and requested bail, in view of the fact that the only vulnerable witness had testified.

Bail was granted, with the court issuing a provisional protection order for the alleged victim.

The accused was ordered to sign a bail book weekly, deposit €1,000 and provide a personal guarantee of €5,000, with the court ordering him under no circumstances to approach the girl again.