A number of bodies have called for the removal of time-barring in cases of child sexual abuse, mainly because victims only pluck up the courage to speak about their ordeal after several years.

The call was made after it emerged how the former Xagħra archpriest,  Eucharist Sultana, had avoided criminal proceedings for sexually abusing an altar boy for four years in return for gifts.

Sultana was never taken to court because the case against him was time-barred, but the Vatican still found him guilty of abuse and banned him from ever again exercising his functions as a priest, including administering any sacraments.

There are currently pending criminal proceedings against another two priests, Joseph Sultana, 84, and Joseph Cini, 71, also from Xaghra, who stand charged with sexually abusing a different altar boy between 2003 and 2005. Cini is further charged with raping the boy.

Church Safeguarding Commission head Andrew Azzopardi insisted that time-barring should be removed for child sexual abuse.

It often takes years, even decades, for victims to be able to speak up

“I am guided by my experience supporting victims of abuse and the barriers they face to speak up, particularly in a small country like Malta,” he said, when asked for a comment.

However, he stressed that the removal of time-barring alone was not enough and had to be accompanied by other measures.

“The criminal justice system needs to be child-focused and informed by the effects of trauma. Lawyers who send threatening letters to try to silence victims should be disciplined by the courts and by the Chamber of Advocates. The media should also be very cautious when reporting specific details of abuse. While some victims might be encouraged to come forward to tell their story, others will go deeper underground due to the fear of being exposed,” Azzopardi said.

The Lisa Maria Foundation and the Malta Association of Social Workers also believed that time-barring for child sexual abuse ought to be removed.

“The professional experience of social workers is that it often takes years, even decades, for victims to be able to speak up against abuse. The reasons for this are well known and relate to the trauma, fear of not being believed or fear of retribution. For these reasons, the time-barring should be extended or removed altogether,” a spokesperson for the Malta Association of Social Workers said.

But the removal of time-barring for such cases is not clear-cut. According to Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, Malta had already introduced legal amendments to meet international obligations as set in the Istanbul Convention implemented through the Gender Base Violence and the Domestic Violence Act.

Malta’s legal system allowed for time-barring in the case of criminal sexual offences, where prescription starts to run from when the victim reaches the age of 18, he said.