A man who raped an eight-year-old girl he used to drive back home from school has been jailed for 12 years. 

James Grech was a 24-year old minivan driver when he abused the girl over a seven-day period in 2006 and left the girl struggling with psychological problems years later, in her teens. 

It was her psychiatrist who informed the police in 2015 that the girl wished to speak to them. 

The girl had suffered pseudo-seizures when going out with her first boyfriend at 16 years of age and finally gave officers from the vice squad a full account of her ordeal as a Year 4 pupil.

She told police that she was the last child to be dropped off home by the bus driver, who would take a detour, park his van in a field and then approach her as she sat at the back.

The first time, he touched her intimately. The second time, he undressed and told her to touch him. The third time, as she broke down in tears, he cradled her and took her home. 

But on the following occasion, he reacted violently to the girl’s tears, pushing her roughly so that she suffered facial injuries. He wiped away the blood, warning the girl to tell her mother that it had been a playground incident. 

The defilement escalated to violent rape, three days in a row.

Police were alerted years ago 

At the time, the eight-year old girl had turned to one of the nuns at school, saying that she had been touched by the driver.

The girl’s parents were informed, she was put on a different school van and her father had filed a police report.

Grech was suspended by his employer for a fortnight, but police did not press charges at the time, saying the evidence at hand was not sufficient to secure a conviction. 

Eight years later, the girl’s mother came across her daughter’s school-age diary, reading a detailed account of the alleged ordeal. 

The driver was finally prosecuted, pleading not guilty to defilement, violent rape as well as holding the minor against her will. 

The mother testified that her daughter used to arrive home late and had once turned up with a cracked lip. Another time, the girl had headed straight for the shower and refused to eat. 

Her husband testified that the girl would recoil in fear whenever she spotted a minivan like the one driven by the accused. 

Some of the girl’s companions on the minivan also testified. One claimed that Grech had occasionally touched her leg while others said they had never witnessed any inappropriate behaviour by the man. 

The accused himself protested his innocence, both in his statement as well as when testifying in court, explaining that the girl used to change places on the van, propping herself on her seat to chat with her friends seated behind. 

He might have occasionally touched her when warning her to sit down and fasten her seatbelt, he said. 

Faced with two, “totally conflicting” versions, the court, presided over by magistrate Audrey Demicoli, said that it was morally convinced of the victim’s account, without slightly doubting her credibility. 

The court had observed the victim when testifying via video conference, taking in the teenager’s behaviour as she relived those episodes, pouring out the details in a voice “sounding like that of an 8-year old.” 

Moreover, her evidence was corroborated by the testimony of her parents and friends. 

The fact that the accused had allegedly sought to convince his victim that what had taken place was because she had willed it, was seen by the court as “typical behaviour” of someone facing such accusations. 

Observing that the accused’s version was marred with inconsistencies, the court convicted him of defilement and rape, meting out a punishment that tended towards the maximum, in view of the gravity of the crime and the psychological trauma suffered by the victim. 

The court also issued a four-year Protection Order in favour of the victim and ordered the accused’s name to be listed on the sexual offenders’ register.

Inspector Paula Ciantar prosecuted. 
Lawyer Joseph Giglio appeared parte civile. 

Correction October 12: A previous version of this article featured a photo of a red minibus. The convicted person named in this story was never a member of the red minibuses cooperative.