MALTA
Malta Today
Chris Mangion
The Maltese archdiocese has told the court in a compensation suit filed by 11 men, that the request is not possible since the crime they are demanding compensation for is now time-barred.
But the lawyers for the 11 men said the Curia’s offer to help the victims of sexual abuse committed by two former MSSP priests at the St Joseph Home, had legally interrupted the call for ‘time-barring’ raised by defence lawyers.
In November 2012, MSSP priests Carmelo Pulis and Godwin Scerri were defrocked and handed a six and five-year jail term respectively. Following the priest’s imprisonment, the 11 victims, led by Lawrence Grech – the man who broke his silence on the case, called for financial compensation but did not specify any amount. The compensation claim was filed against the Curia, the government, the Attorney General, Carmel Pulis, Godwin Scerri, the Archbishop and the St Paul’s Missionary Society.
With parties in agreement on the dates mentioned in the previous judgements as the date of the offence, the defence counsel argued that the request for compensation was now time-barred.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.