A 16-year-old girl has admitted to giving false testimony in a recent case of alleged satanic sex abuse.
The girl, a student from Marsascala, had given sworn evidence before magistrate (now judge) Aaron Bugeja that the accused in that case had not forced the girl’s mother to perform sexual acts with her daughters earlier this year. That case is still ongoing.
In April she had testified in the rape case against her ex-boyfriend, telling the court that the allegations were not true.
But in recent days, the girl had a crisis of conscience over the fact that she had lied under oath and had turned herself in to the police.
Before magistrate Joe Mifsud this morning, Inspector Oriana Spiteri charged the girl with perjury and false swearing. The charges carry with them a term of imprisonment of up to five years.
The police had been contacted by her social worker. She had been unable to sleep because she had lied under oath, explained the inspector.
The girl had subsequently released a statement to the police, admitting that she had lied under oath.
Magistrate Joe Mifsud, presiding the arraignment said that accusing a person of rape without basis is serious, but so was hiding the truth. She had lied about her now ex-boyfriend raping someone else and she had tried to cover up for him, he observed.
“I would send you to prison…that’s not the way to do things. Boyfriends come and go, no matter how much you love them, you don’t do these things,” said the magistrate.
Legal aid lawyer Leontine Calleja said the girl wanted to set things right and would testify again in the rape case.
Magistrate Mifsud praised the girl for listening to her conscience, realising her error and coming forward.
She pleaded guilty to the charge and was handed a conditional discharge.
The court said that in the circumstances of the particular case and because she was still a minor, it felt it should apply the Probation Act, conditionally discharging her for one year.
The court ordered a ban on the publication of the name of the accused in this case.