Two priests accused of sexually abusing minors in their care about 20 years ago will know their fate tomorrow when judgment is expected to be handed down following an eight-year-long court case.
The accused originally stood charged together with a third, who passed away last January, aged 63.
The alleged victims, who were then aged between 13 and 16, were resident at St Joseph’s Home in Sta Venera in the late 1980s when the alleged abuse took place.
The case only came to public attention in September 2003 when one of the victims, Lawrence Grech, gave interviews and claimed he had been sexually abused at the home run by the Missionary Society of St Paul. The following month, police investigations led to the three priests being accused of sex abuse of minors. The court had banned the publication of the priests’ names and the case was heard behind closed doors. At the same time, the Church Response Team initiated an investigation.
In April 2010, ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s Malta visit, Mr Grech and other alleged victims publicly asked the head of the Catholic Church to apologise for the suffering they endured as children.
Under the gaze of the world’s media, the victims were given a private audience with the Pope in Malta. The Vatican promised it would look into their case following criticism of the Response Team, which had not yet concluded its investigation seven years on.
Subsequently, the alleged victims held a private meeting with Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, in June 2010, Archbishop Cremona apologised for the delay in the Church investigation. The Vatican’s Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mgr Charles Scicluna, held meetings in Malta with some of the alleged victims. He compiled their testimony and passed on the details to the Response Team.
Last October, the alleged victims received a letter informing them that their cases were “founded” and the matter would be referred to the Vatican. Then, in January this year, the Vatican instructed the Maltese Church to set up a tribunal to conduct the judicial process into the abuse allegations
In April, Mr Grech – who became the spokesman for the alleged victims – accused the Church of delaying tactics as regards its own tribunal, pending the outcome of the criminal court case.
However, in May, a member of the tribunal hearing the case against the priests met the victims to formalise evidence they gave to the Vatican’s chief sex abuse prosecutor last summer.
Magistrate Saviour Demicoli is expected to hand down the judgment at 9 a.m.
Canadian search warrant for Maltese priest remains open
Fr Godwin Scerri, who is wanted in Canada on charges of sexual abuse and who is entangled in another high profile case of alleged sexual abuse at St Joseph’s Home in Malta, is one of 22 priests who have faced prison, probation or lawsuits in the London Diocese of Ontario, Canada.
In April 2010, the Ontario Provincial Police resurrected the case against Fr Scerri, who was charged in June 1993 for sexually abusing minors between 1983 and 1987 when he served at St William’s Church in Emeryville. He had fled to his native Malta and search and arrest warrants remain open in his respect in Canada.
And while the Ontario police are hoping to be able to extradite Fr Scerri, ongoing proceedings in Malta in relation to the St Joseph’s Home case are hindering such efforts.
The complaint against Fr Scerri alleged that the abuse, which began when the boy was 12 years old, occurred between 1983 and 1987 on Pelee Island and Emeryville, when Fr Scerri worked as a priest at St William’s Church.
But he never faced charges since he had returned to Malta in the interim period and was then transferred to the St Joseph orphanage in Sta Venera, where he has been accused of having committed similar offences.
As Fr Scerri had since moved back to Malta, he has apparently avoided prosecution in Canada. The Ontario police, however, now appear ready to take matters further and file an extradition request for Fr Scerri.
Such a request, however, would impinge on his current court proceedings in Malta where he has been facing charges, along with two other members of the clergy, in what has been described a protracted seven-year court case involving the alleged abuse of 10 former orphans.
A spokesperson from the Ontario police had told this newspaper recently that it would like to see him extradited from Malta to Canada to face charges there, and that a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Fr Scerri was still valid. Fr Scerri was charged in June 1993 with sexual assault and gross indecency following complaints filed by a man who was 22 years old at the time of charging.
An Ontario Provincial Police said, “Allegations from the case recently came to light so it has been resurrected as a cold case. We are looking for any information we can get. The charges against Fr Scerri are still pending, and an arrest warrant still exists for him.
“While there is the possibility of Fr Scerri being extradited from Malta to Canada in the future, the Ontario police are continuing its investigations into the case.”
Should Fr Scerri have his day in the Canadian courts, he faces a potentially long sentence.
In fact, Fr Scerri is one of a total of 22 priests from the London diocese who have been convicted, charged or sued for sexual abuse.
Of the 14 cases that have been concluded against priests from the diocese, 13 of the priests had pleaded guilty and received sentences for various sexual crimes ranging from three years probation to five years in prison.
The Canadian police, however, will have to wait for the conclusion of proceedings against Fr Scerri in Malta before proceeding with a possible extradition request.
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