The Gozitan priest who stands accused of abusing three girls allegedly touched one of his victims, a teenager, in front of her mother, at a family event.

Sources close to the case said Father Jesmond Gauci attended a family BBQ in Gozo and was caught by the girl’s mother touching the girl “inappropriately”. It is understood that the girl’s mother has said she is willing to testify against the priest.

The Malta Independent on Sunday is also informed that the police have discovered several text messages allegedly sent by the priest to at least one of the girls.

The source said the allegations had nothing to do with the school where Fr Gauci taught and that the victims were all Gozitan girls in their teens. The alleged events took place in and around February.

The same source confirmed that Gozo Bishop Mario Grech had personally reported the case to the police. This newsroom has learnt, however, that Mgr Grech first reported the case to the Education Ministry, since Fr Gauci taught religion at a Hamrun state school for boys. The Ministry then advised him to report everything to the police. The report was lodged soon after the alleged abuse took place and investigators have spent the intervening months building up the case.

Commenting on Mgr Grech’s actions, the source said he had noted a huge difference between this case and the way the Church had handled previous sexual abuse cases: “When the Church first got to know about the sexual abuse cases at St Joseph’s Home, they did not go to the police immediately but first investigated the matter internally. The Gozo Bishop has taken a different approach by immediately calling in the police. It was the correct thing to do.”

 

Priest suspended from teaching ‘indefinitely’

Our sources also confirmed that Fr Gauci was suspended from teaching “indefinitely” last Thursday. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Public Service Commission board. “He cannot even approach a school. There is a very strong case against the priest and, if found guilty, he will most definitely lose his teaching warrant,” said the source.

The case first came to light last Tuesday when the then unnamed priest was taken to court and charged with abusing minors. The court upheld a request to ban the publication of the priest’s name and all the court proceedings. However, on Friday the court upheld an appeal to overturn the ban on the man’s name after the police argued that there was no direct link between the accused and the alleged victims. He was then named as Fr Jesmond Gauci, a 42-year-old priest from Xaghra who was ordained in 2001.

 

Alleged abuse did not happen at school – Minister

When asked to comment about the case yesterday, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo would not be drawn into the merits of the case and only said that the alleged abuse had no connection with the school where Fr Gauci taught.

Mr Bartolo said the government will take immediate steps whenever it receives well-founded reports of incorrect behaviour, irrespective of who the alleged perpetrator might be.