BishopAccountability.org
	Attorney General’s Office Defends Itself on Priests’ Sex Abuse Case di-ve August 9, 2011 http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=85260&newscategory=34 The Attorney General’s Office is defending its conduct in the case which led to the conviction of 2 priests of sex abuse charges – in which one was acquitted of a rape charge due to an error in the charge sheet. Fr Carmelo Pulis was jailed for 6 years and Fr Godwin Scerri for 5 after Magistrate Saviour Demicoli found them both guilty of multiple counts of sexual abuse at the St Joseph’s Home in Santa Venera. Both are currently out on appeal. But Fr Scerri was acquitted of a rape charge because the charge sheet alleged that the incident occurred in Marfa – while the victim testified that it occurred at the Santa Venera home. The lengthy court proceedings – the 2 priests were arraigned in October 2003 – also drew criticism, prompting the Attorney General’s Office to issue a statement to address concerns. The statement notes that the office does not head the prosecution in criminal cases heard at the Court of Magistrates, but also adds that changing a charge sheet at an advanced stage of court proceedings is not without risks. The office maintains that doing so might force the court case to restart, and might even lead to the charges being prescribed – and the whole case dropped. It added that the discrepancy on the charge only surfaced when the final sentence was read out last week. The office also commented on the 8-year span of proceedings. It noted that after the prosecution concluded its case within 6 months. The defence, however, only concluded its own on March 9, 2011.
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