Father accused of abusing daughter after WhatsApp messages flagged
Child protection services called police about WhatsApp messages he allegedly sent his daughter
A man has been charged with defiling and sexually abusing his six-year-old daughter after police were called in by child protection services to investigate WhatsApp messages the man sent to the girl.
The 46-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of defiling and sexually abusing the girl, as well as the illicit use of telecommunication equipment and relapse.
Names are not being mentioned by court order.
Police Inspector Marshal Mallia told Magistrate Elaine Rizzo that authorities received a report from child protection services concerning a six-year-old girl.
She had allegedly been sent WhatsApp messages with a sexual connotation by her father. The girl said her father often exposed his private parts to her and asked her to touch them.
She repeated these claims when interviewed by the police and an arrest warrant for the man was issued.
When officers went to his registered residence - a room in a field - they did not find him.
He was later arrested at a police station when he went to sign the bail book in connection with another case.
Prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General, Darlene Grima and Julia Micallef Stafrace, led the prosecution alongside Inspector Mallia.
Lawyer Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri represented the accused.