Head of Church Safeguarding Commission takes exception to lawyer’s comments

The head of the Church Safeguarding Commission has taken exception to comments made by a lawyer defending a man accused of raping his partner's young daughter, saying so much work needs to be done to educate people on the subject.

Andrew Azzopardi, a child protection specialist, was referring to an argument made in court by Dr Rachel Tua, who is defending a man accused of raping his partner's daughter several times over several years.

Tua "argued that 13-year-olds today aren't what they used to be and are more sexually active and aware. The girl had sent him nude photographs of herself to the accused".

Writing on Facebook, Azzopardi said he "wouldn't be surprised if such words were said by the accused but I do not accept such a statement from a lawyer. This shows how much work is left for all of us to do to educate event those who are supposed to be educated."

He added that "One of the problems here is the usual victim blaming (it's the girl's fault as she sent a nude pic!) We obviously know that this is all bs. The relevant question is "Who is the adult?" Maybe the accused (and his lawyer) conveniently forgot this! What worries me from a risk assessment point of view is that using this reasoning, if another (or the same) child sends him nude pics again he would repeat the same behaviour.

"We need to improve our legal system and we need to develop effective therapeutic programmes for paedophiles and for those who sexually abuse minors."

from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2JzyjKT
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