Valletta man given suspended sentence after groping teenage girl

A 52-year-old man from Valletta was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for three years after he pleaded guilty to groping an underage girl in a bar.

The girl was working at the Loop Bar in Valletta on 2 September 2014 when Jesmond Nappa Licari allegedly asked her to help him with a non-functioning cigarette machine. As she leaned over the machine, the man held and groped her, which prompted her to report him to the police. Only the two of them were present in the room at the time.

Nappa Licari admitted to defiling the girl, violently sexually assaulting her, and breaking a window while in police custody, and was found guilty on all three counts. However, he was found not guilty on charges of holding her against her will, harassing her, and committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended prison sentence.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit also ordered that the man’s name be jotted down in the child protection register.

Inspector Daryl Borg was the prosecuting officer in the case, while Alessadro Lia served as defence lawyer to Nappa Licari.