A 65-year-old pensioner went on trial on Wednesday charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in a Żejtun garage while her parents were waiting for a take-out at his home.

Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera ordered that the trial be heard behind closed doors, upholding a previous court order banning his name from publication.

The man stands charged with engaging in unlawful sexual activities with the minor and defiling the girl, who was just 12 years old at the time.

The abuse allegedly happened inside the man’s garage in Żejtun on May 29, 2021.

Soon after, the vulnerable girl confided in her learning support educator at school who, in turn, flagged the matter to child support services.

The police were roped in, and criminal charges were issued against the elderly man who is denying the charges.

The court heard that the girl’s parents were friends of the man. On the day in question, the family had gone to the man’s house on a Saturday night. They ordered a take-out and the girl accompanied the man to collect the food.

Instead, he allegedly took her to the Żejtun garage where the prosecution believes he was engaged in sexual activities with the minor.

The man spent a while under preventive arrest after his request for bail was turned down by the magistrate presiding over his case who heard that his partner had tried to contact the girl’s family soon after the police were alerted to the case.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Ishmael Psaila are defence counsel.