Priests Appeal Judgement in October

Malta Independent
July 7, 2012

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=147074

The priests’ sexual abuse appeal judgement is expected on 26 October after Mr Justice David Scicluna listened to the submissions made by the prosecution and defence, in three separate sittings.

The last sitting was held yesterday morning.

Godwin Scerri and Carmel Pulis, two former priests, were last August sentenced to five years and six years in jail respectively for the sexual abuse of boys who were living at Dar San Guzepp, Sta Venera.

Mr Pulis was found guilty of abusing nine boys, Mr Scerri of corrupting two boys.

Prosecutor Elaine Rizzo said the point the defence is not accepting is that Lawrence Grech, one of the victims on whom much was said, was not the crux of the case but the person who had the courage to speak out.

All witnesses said they respected Fr Pulis for all the good he did with them but there was wrongdoing in the cases of abuse. Something that definitely cannot be ignored is the testimony of the care worker who had entered the priest’s room at around midnight and witnessed a boy lying on the priest while his penis was erect and sticking out from his boxer shorts.

“This testimony cannot be discredited,” Dr Rizzo said. “I’ve seen many men playing with children and they never had their private part erect. This is not normal.”

We cannot give the impression that our judicial system is a vacuum. Certain actions are against the law and minors are to be protected according to the same law. The law, in the name of society contemplates punishment and justice needs to be served with the victims, with society and with the same residence for children, she said.

Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco said the first court ignored a number of things so the conclusion should not have been what it was. The matter here could not have been considered a continuous crime.

She described one of the victims who testified against the priests as “a liar” because what he said was not right.

Discussing the scene when Lawrence Grech pulled down the pants of a 13-year-old boy, after watching a video of the incident earlier during the sitting, Dr de Marco said this is not normal behaviour for men. Contrary to what had been said, this does not happen at bachelor parties.

She went on to describe this as a case of a boy who was being bullied and humiliated by a man who was a helper. This instance is all part of the same tactics rendering the victims disloyal.

She went on to say that the fact that a man has his penis erect would not necessarily mean arousal. According to her, it happens in the morning and in case of friction, for example when someone is touching another.

The boy described as the victim in the bedroom incident should reply to these things because he kept changing the version of events and started making allegations only after Lawrence Grech met him and took him to his house, Dr de Marco said.

She also noted how earlier in the same sitting, television presenter Lou Bondi confirmed articles on his blogs and that Lawrence Grech lied to him and this was not an issue of misunderstanding.

“This is the system of conduct of Lawrence Grech and his friends, they lie,” she insisted. “At first they said they were not doing this for money but for the children who were in care and now it transpires it was all made up.”

Her final point was that the men who testified after several years of living away from the children’s residence had people close to them and even siblings there at the time but no psychologists, foster parents, workers or other priests corroborated what they have said.

This does not have anything to do with the Stockholm Syndrome – which occurs in the most psychologically traumatic situations such as kidnapping, when victims continue to defend and care about their captors even after this ends. The case here is totally different, Dr de Marco said, because no one was a captive.

Justice happens by listening and weighing all evidence and identifying what is right. It cannot be influenced by spins or sensationalism, she emphasised.

Replying to points raised by the prosecution, defence lawyer Joe Giglio said the fact that Fr Godwin Scerri was not mentioned is impressive. This merits a lot of attention, he said.

He added that from the acts before the court, it has never resulted that any of the men involved are suffering from any psychological conditions and so the Stockholm Syndrome cannot be taken into consideration.

He concluded this was the situation of someone using the law to abuse it.

Lawyers Philip Galea Farrugia and Elaine Rizzo, represented the attorney general while Dr de Marco and Dr Giglio appeared for the priests.