MALTA
Malta Today
Karl Stagno-Navarra
A court of criminal appeal presided by Judge David Scicluna has confirmed a 2011 sentence against two priests accused of the sexual abuse of minors in their custody.
They were escorted to prison on a six-year sentence for priest Charles Pulis and five years for Godwin Scerri.
In handing judgement, Mr Justice Scicluna said that although Pulis and Scerri were considered to be ‘father figures’ for the boys at St. Joseph Home in Hamrun, “the fact remains however, that corruption of minors is a serious and ugly crime which could leve serious effects, be they physical or psychological on whoever experienced them.”
Judge Scicluna said that the witnesses in the case had been “credible” even though he found “blatant contradictions” by witness Lawrence Grech in a number of instances. “However the court is not ready to speculate on the motivations behind reports of abuse, because such reports were corroborated by a number of other victims.”
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