A 60-year-old man was arraigned in court this morning after forcing his seven-year-old son to engage with prostitutes in order to stop him from “becoming gay.” The father pleaded not guilty, however he did not put forward a request for bail.

Police inspectors Joseph Busuttil and John Spiteri revealed that it was actually the prostitutes themselves who, anonymously, filed a report to the child protection agency Appogg.

The man could be heard telling the courts that because his son already had two gay cousins, he felt it was prudent to prevent the same happening with his son – resulting in the forced engagement with prostitutes.

The alleged incident took place in Marsa and at the man’s home last year. The two prostitutes, who apparently also have issues with drugs, felt that the only choice they had was to file a complaint in order to prevent this from happening again.

It was said that sometimes the accused would force the prostitute to have sex with his son, and that at certain points he would even expect his son to be involved in joint sex acts with himself and the female prostitute.

A social worker was told that the accused had threatened his son with placing him in a home if he ever decided to speak out about what he was forced to endure. Prosecuting inspectors said that drugs had also been taken while the child was present. He is now being kept in a care home until the case develops.

A protection order was made against the father from contacting or approaching his son of the women who filed the complaint. Lawyer Yanika Cammilleri defended the accused while Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras presided over the case.