A 42-year-old man from Valletta, who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years imprisonment after he admitted to raping his former girlfriend and violent indecent assault of her two daughters, suffers from sexual deviance disorder, a court was told.

The man, who can’t be named on court order, requires help in dealing with his sexual impulses, according to the pre-sentencing report by his probation officer, and since none is available on the island, he is consequentially caught in ‘a vicious circle’.

He stands charged with raping his former girlfriend, holding her against her will and using violence in her regard, during September 2010. He was also charged with corrupting her daughters, a 23-year-old and an 18-year-old.

He was also charged with phoning them and threatening them and causing others to fear violence may be used against them and with relapsing.

The court, presided by Magistrate Gabriella Vella, took the early admission into consideration; however it also said that it could not ignore his police record, which showed that he had often been charged with similar offences.

It recommended that the psychological and psychiatric aspects of the accused are given specific attention during his time at Corradino Correctional Facility.

He was initially sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment, however taking the specific circumstances into consideration, the court ruled that the sentence was excessive and sentenced him to four-and-a-half years.

Lawyers José Herrera and Veronique Dalli appeared for the accused, who admitted to the charges brought against him last March.

There was an agreement between prosecuting Inspector Jesmond Borg and the defence that a report is drawn up about the accused, and a psychiatrist would be appointed to investigate his mental state.