A man who had to endure four years of court proceedings to defend himself from allegations of sexually abusing his 12-year-old niece said the ordeal had ruined his life.

The allegations turned out to be false and had been made up by his estranged wife during separation proceedings, which according to legal experts in the field is becoming a frequent occurrence.

The man’s case was finally laid to rest last week when Magistrate Audrey Demicoli cleared him of all the charges brought against him.

His name and that of the underage girl involved in the case as well as other relatives cannot be published by court order.

'The case ruined me'

When contacted, the man told The Sunday Times of Malta that the court case had changed his life forever.

“The case ruined me. They spent four years lying about me; how do you think that made me feel? It turned out that it was my ex-wife who cooked up the claims.

"She made up the whole story because she wanted full custody of our son and she used her brother’s young daughter to make up this story about me. Had it not been for my son, I would not be here today. That’s how much this case had a toll on me,” he said.

Had it not been for my son, I am not here today.

Report filed over indecent messages

In 2015, the 32-year-old man was charged with defiling his 12-year-old niece in 2014 and 2015, of violently and indecently assaulting her and of participating in sexual activities with her. He was further charged with harassing her and misusing telecommunications equipment.

The court heard how the first police report had been filed by the girl’s mother as well as the accused and his wife over unbecoming messages the girl had received from her uncle’s Facebook account. The man denied sending such messages and insisted that his account had been hacked.

A week later, the girl and her mother returned to the police station to report five incidents of sexual abuse that had allegedly taken place a year earlier over the course of two months.

The young girl testified in court, giving the details of what had happened on each of the occasions and spoke of her close relationship with her aunt, the man’s wife, who were in the process of separating.

'I am just a terribly good liar'

The accused told the court that the girl had been forced to make up the abuse story by her aunt, his wife, from whom he was in the process of separating. His estranged wife had also fabricated a similar story about sexual abuse involving his own five-year-old son.

He also referred to a Facebook post uploaded by his niece soon after his arrest which read: “I am just a terribly good liar”.

In her judgment, Magistrate Demicoli expressed “serious doubts” about the girl’s version of events. She said that the girl’s behaviour while testifying made her doubt her credibility. She also noted how the girl replied in the negative when the police asked whether her uncle had done anything unbecoming just one week before the report was filed.

Moreover, the magistrate said, the girl’s reaction to the abuse she was alleging was “unlikely” and “improbable”, leading the court to declare it was “morally convinced” that the girl’s version was “a lie”.

'Children should not be used as weapons'

Struggling to contain himself, the man told The Sunday Times of Malta that children should never be used as pawns during separation proceedings.

“I do not want anyone to go through the martyrdom I went through. Children should not be used as weapons. The separation proceedings themselves are enough of a trauma for them.

I do not want anyone to go through the martyrdom I went through.

“This experience changed me forever. I was just existing not living. I am now trying to forget the past and look ahead but I am finding it very difficult to trust again.”

His defence lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, said the police needed more resources to investigate such claims.

“We are seeing an increased number of similar allegations during separation proceedings and the police are already using a finer comb when sifting through the cases but they need more resources to be able to delve in the finer details,” he said. 

Legal experts said the only redress people wrongly accused of such crimes have is to file a criminal complaint against the person for filing a false police report.