Jailed for sexually abusing four nephews under 10 years old

A man was jailed for two years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing his four nephews 13 years ago, when all of them were under the age of 10.

The 49-year old Rabat resident, who cannot be named by court order, was charged with corrupting the four minors, committing indecent assault and engaging in sexual acts with them.

The abuse allegedly occurred at his mother’s house, the children’s grandmother’s home. At the time, the children were aged 9, 7, 5 and 3 years old.

Assistant Commissioner Louise Calleja told the court the police started investigating the case after two nuns from a children’s institute filed a report with the Directorate for Child Protection Services claiming one of the children had alleged his uncle had sexually abused him.

Three of the boys were living at the institute while their eldest brother was above the institute’s age limit. They were living there on their father’s request as he was finding it difficult to raise them on his own after the death of their mother.

One of the nuns told the court that two of the boys suffered the trauma of witnessing their mother die.

The children would spend the weekend at their grandmother’s house. They would tell the nun that their uncle would touch them, expose himself to them and touch himself in front of them.

The nun added that throughout the two years that the boys lived in the institute, they were consistent with their story.

The second nun told the court that the children seemed “disturbed” by what they were experiencing and that all the abuse happened while their grandmother was asleep.

The four boys testified in court about their ordeal. Their father also told the court about what their family had gone through, including the death of his wife.

The prosecution presented a statement the accused had made when he was interrogated in which he claimed one of the nephews had asked him to touch him and that another had been touched “not more than twice”.

In his statement, the accused also said he sometimes hit the children because he believed that was the way to correct them. He admitted he needed help and that he was sorry for what he had done.

Three psychiatrists who examined the accused concluded that he has a mental age of around 11 years and does not present a risk of paedophilic tendencies or pose a danger to society.

Magistrate Nadine Sant Lia found the man guilty of all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison.

 She also placed the man under a four-year supervision order and a three-year treatment order, while also issuing a three-year protection order to safeguard his nephews. She further ordered that his name be entered into the register of persons convicted of abusing minors.