A teenage father-to-be was released from preventive arrest after pleading not guilty to defiling his 14-year old girlfriend.

The 19-year old youth was arrested after information reached the police about the teenage couple’s intimate relationship and the ensuing pregnancy which caused the father-to-be to fall foul of the law.

Under Maltese law, the age of consent had been lowered from 18 to 16 in 2018, following a long process of parliamentary debate which culminated in the relative amendment to the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Bill. 

As the law stands, the 14-year-old girl fell two years short of that minimum age threshold of consenting to participate in sexual activity.

Her boyfriend was thus arrested and escorted to court where he pleaded not guilty to the defilement of the minor, engaging in sexual acts with her, threatening the girl and also causing her to fear violence. 

The court, presided over by magistrate Audrey Demicoli, upheld a request for bail against a deposit of €1,000, a personal guarantee of €1,000 and an order to sign the bail book twice a week.

The court furthered ordered the young man not to approach his girlfriend who is approaching due delivery date. 

Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted. Lawyer Mario Mifsud was defence counsel.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.