A man and a woman going through a rough patch in their married life, were today kept under arrest after being accused of having defiled their two children when they lounged around the house in the nude, snapping pictures of the children touching their father’s private parts.

The husband and wife, whose names have been banned under court order, were both denied bail after pleading not guilty to charges of defilement of minors and the production of indecent material involving the same children.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Josette Demicoli, heard about the way reports of the indecent activities inside the couple's home had reached Appoġġ through work colleagues of the woman who happened to be working as a child care support assistant at a summer school.

The social agency alerted the police who took matters in their hands and approached the couple, who were found in possession of some 70 photos and several videos of indecent material.

In the majority of the pictures, snapped by the woman, her husband was photographed naked while their children, a one-year old girl and a three-and-a-half-year old boy, were seen touching his private parts.

The prosecution was led by Inspector Joseph Busuttil from the Vice Squad.

The children have since been entrusted into the care of Appoġġ.

When making submissions on bail, lawyer Benjamin Valenzia, assisting the man, pointed out since the children had been removed from their parents’ home, there was no risk of tampering with evidence. The court could order supervised access to their children while proceedings were ongoing.

His client was even willing to move out of the family home and take up residence with his mother so that his wife might remain in the home and thus have a separate address, the lawyer argued, further noting that since the woman was a foreigner she had no other relatives to turn to in Malta.

Moreover, although the couple had been on the verge of separation, the two had expressed their intention of working to save their marriage, the court was told.

These arguments were, however, rebutted by the prosecution which observed that there were still many civilian witnesses to testify, including workers from Appoġġ, the woman's colleagues and possibly even one of the victims, namely the three-and-a-half-year-old who was old enough to speak.

In the case of the woman, matters were even worse since her workmates were to testify and since she had no other family in Malta the risk of absconding was a real one, inspector Busuttil continued. “The case is still at a very premature stage,” the prosecution concluded.

In the light of all circumstances, the court upheld the arguments put forward by the prosecution and remanded both husband and wife in custody.

The court issued a ban on the publication of all names as well as on the name of the locality were the family resided.

Lawyer Benjamin Valenzia assisted the husband.

Lawyer Cynthia Tomasuolo assisted the wife.