A 68-year-old man today was jailed for nine years after a court found him guilty of raping a 7-year-old girl who visited his house frequently to see his cats.

William Gatt, from St Paul’s Bay, denied raping the girl, whose name cannot be published by order of the courts, defiling her, holding her against her will and indecent assault.

The case happened in 2002 when the girl was still seven but only came to light several years later, after her family had moved to the UK.  Mr Gatt was arrested in 2010 after the UK police filed a report via Interpol. The British authorities started investigating the case after being alerted by counsellors that, following a suicide attempt, the girl alleged that she had been raped by the man when she lived in Malta.

She revealed that when she was 7 or 8 she used to visit a friend’s house and the accused, who lived nearby, told her to go to his house to see his cats. She went to his house on more than one occasion but on the last time, he tied her up to a bed and raped her. When arrested, Mr Gatt denied abusing the girl but admitted that he had had an alcohol problem and used to carry out sexual acts on or in the presence of young girls.

The girl’s father told the court that his daughter had tried to take her own life and later told counsellors this came as a result of the trauma and depression she suffered from as a result of the abuse she had endured.

The girl also testified by videoconferencing, telling the court that she had been too depressed and could not bear the sadness she felt as a result of the rape. She recounted how she had gone to the house of the accused, who told her to go to the bedroom because the cats were not there that day. He went out and came back after five minutes with a rope, which he used to bind her arms and legs. She said she screamed and struggled when the man undressed her but the accused silenced her when he said he would kill someone from her family if she spoke out. He then put a finger inside her before raping her. The girl managed to untie herself and escaped his house when he went to the bathroom but she never spoke about the incident.

The accused chose to testify during the proceedings, accusing the girl of telling lies. He said the girl always sat in the living room, apart from one occasion when he found her rummaging through a drawer in his bedroom. He said he had kicked her out of the house, never to see her again. He also alleged that the girl’s father had asked him for Lm2,000 (€4,660) but he (Mr Gatt) told him he had no money. He also clarified that when he said he liked ‘girls’ he had meant women. The man denied having said that he liked to perform oral sex on young girls and boys.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli noted that, in cases like this one there were always two opposing versions and the charges had to be proven beyond reasonable doubt. She said, however, that she did not doubt the girl’s testimony and it was clear that she was suffering from psychological issues as a result of the abuse she had suffered. There was no apparent reason why the girl would make the story up, seeing that she no longer lived in Malta and the fact that the case happened several years ago. The accused’s version that she was forced by her father to invent the story as revenge for his refusal to lend him money also did not make sense. The Magistrate noted the young age of the victim at the time the crime was committed and the psychological effects this episode had left on her. For these reasons, the sentence should be close to the maximum allowed by law.

She found Mr Gatt guilty of the first and second counts and was sentenced to nine years in jail. He was also placed on the sex offenders register.

Inspector Louise Calleja prosecuted.