Priests appeal: Defence says court was 'selective' in appreciation of evidence

Defence counsel for two priests who have appealed against child abuse convictions, argued in court today that the court had been selective in its appreciation of the evidence presented in the case. Godwin Scerri and Charles Pulis, both members of the Missionary Society of St Paul, were sentenced to five and six years in prison respectively for sexually abusing 11 young boys in their care. Their appeal started being heard last Friday. Picking up where Dr Giannella de Marco left off last week, Dr Joe Giglio  said there were several discrepancies in the evidence of two victims and he therefore wondered how the magistrate had arrived at the moral certainty required for a conviction.  For example, while one of the alleged victims had claimed that Godwin Scerri was one of the priests who looked after them at St Joseph Home,  the evidence showed that Fr Scerri was never actually involved in looking after the children. The magistrate had based his conviction of corruption of minors on a couple of sentences said by the witnesses on the witness stand while ignoring the totality of evidence, Dr Giglio said.   In another discrepancy, it had been shown that  Fr Scerri was not even in Malta...