timesofmalta.com
Friday, August 19, 2011, 20:00
The Attorney General has filed an appeal over the Magistrates’ Court decision to acquit a priest of rape because of an error in the charge sheet.
Fr Godwin Scerri was earlier this month found guilty of sexual abuse but acquitted of rape.
He was jailed for five years but is appealing the decision.
In his judgement, Magistrate Saviour Demicoli had noted that the victim testified that Fr Scerri had raped him at St Joseph’s Home in Ħamrun and not in Marfa, as indicated in the charges.
In his appeal, the AG questioned the magistrate’s decision and asked the Court of Appeal to reconsider arguing that a precise indication of where the crime took place was not essential to the finding of guilt or otherwise.
Let’s hope the appeal will succeed. It’s never a comfort to see a technicality provide an open door to an acquittal on a child sex abuse charge. It sounds as though this one may have been police or prosecution error? Perhaps a typo? No matter, it’s good to see that an appeal is being filed.
I do wish the Maltese media would remind the public from time to time that this convicted clerical molester is also a fugitive from justice in Canada. Scerri fled Canada in 1993, this after a young man alleged abuse which began in 1983 when he was a 12-year-old boy and continued to 1987. A warrant for Scerri’s arrest is still outstanding.