A man who had a sexual relationship with the underage daughter of his former employer and shared explicit footage of the acts has been sentenced to six years in prison.

The court heard that the accused, whose name is being withheld due to legal restrictions, initially lived with his employer and the employer's daughter for approximately three months after arriving in Malta, before moving into his own residence.

The accused began messaging the girl when she was just 11 years old. Her father, upon discovering the communications, ordered him to stop. Although the messages ceased temporarily, the girl later resumed contact, only for her father to intervene again and delete the conversations from her phone.

The exchanges eventually resumed once more. During their conversations, the girl confided in the man about personal issues, claiming that her mother had abandoned her as an infant and that her brother had raped her.

The case came to light when the father was informed by a friend that video footage existed showing his daughter engaging in sexual acts with the former employee. He filed a police report shortly thereafter.

In court, the father confirmed he had previously employed the man as a cook but dismissed him upon discovering that he had submitted falsified documents and was struggling with substance abuse.

The accused claimed he was unaware that the girl was underage when the sexual activity occurred. She was 14 years old at the time. The girl testified that she did not know he was recording their encounters.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit noted that no remorse had been shown by the accused and he had not convinced the court that he did not know what he was doing .

The court ruled that it had been proven that the accused had filmed the sexual acts without permission and shared the footage.