Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1490058
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 JANUARY 2023 NEWS KURT SANSONE JOSEPH could have been a nor- mal 18-year-old vane young- ster but what he did within the confines of a modest terraced house in Marsaskala was be- yond ordinary. Joseph, not his real name, was jailed for 20 years last Friday after a judge found him guilty of aggravated rape of a moth- er, forcing her daughters to do perverse sex acts against their will and the rape of the un- derage daughter, who was his girlfriend at the time. His trial without jury started and ended last week. The testimony given by his victims painted a disgusting picture of a young man who manipulated this vulnerable family to satisfy his sadistic sexual desires. Joseph played on the moth- er's willingness to dabble with the occult and by simulating a devilish voice gradually assert- ed 'demonic' authority on the family. The satanic happenings were all a ruse. The victims gave graphic de- tails of how Joseph made them do perverse sexual acts, culmi- nating in the rape of the moth- er with a broomstick. Gullibility and the 'demonic voice' The story started in May 2018 when Joseph, from Bormla, hooked up with a 14-year-old Marsaskala girl. They dated each other and were also inti- mate. Just a month into their rela- tionship, Joseph, who played football with St George's FC, his hometown team, went to live with his girlfriend's family in Marsaskala. Unemployed, Joseph would not contribute financially at all to the house- hold. He spent days on his Playstation. Over there he found a moth- er, who had long dabbled in the occult, visited a fortune teller with whom she also had a fling, and used the Ouija board. In court, the mother said she had borderline personality disor- der, a mental illness, and had also been admitted to Mount Carmel Hospital in the past. Joseph found the mother to be a very gullible person and abused this by simulating the voice of a 'demonic spirit' who ordered her to engage in per- verted behaviours. The abuse started in August 2018 after the family went to watch The Nun at the cinema. It continued until January 2019 as the possessive Joseph con- trolled the household's inhab- itants through surreptitious acts that simulated paranormal activity. The whole family was held to ransom by this 'spirit'. The victims spoke of how things 'mysteriously' dropped to the ground, heard strange noises and witnessed abnor- mal scenes such as a fire in the shape of a cross, burning on the floor. Raped with a broom The 'demon' whipped the mother and her elder daugh- ter; it ordered them to shower together; strip naked in Janu- ary and stand in front of a fan. The 'satanic voice' ordered the mother and elder daughter to share sexual stories and lick each other's nipples. And in a perverted way it ordered the daughter to rape the mother using a broomstick and when she refused, the act was com- pleted by Joseph as the younger daughter looked on. In her testimony on the broomstick incident, the younger sister said Joseph claimed he had been "ordered to do it [the rape] by the spirit." After the ordeal was over, they went downstairs and drank whisky and when the elder sis- ter puked, Joseph ordered his girlfriend to wash her. The court heard the victims speak of how they feared this voice because of the threats it made if they did not comply to its commands. When the sisters and their mother started suspecting that the demonic voice was Joseph's The Devil went down to Marsaskala Thank you... for having bought this newspaper The good news is that we're not raising the price of our newspaper We know times are still hard, but we have pledged to keep giving our readers quality news they deserve, without making you pay more for it. So thank you, for making it your MaltaToday Support your favourite newspaper with a special offer on online PDF subscriptions. Visit bit.ly/2X9csmr or scan the QR code Subscriptions can be done online on agendabookshop.com Same-day delivery at €1 for orders up to 5 newspapers per address. Subscribe from €1.15 a week Same-day print delivery from Miller Distributors mt Within the confines of an ordinary terraced house in Marsaskala a sadistic and manipulative teenager used a satanic ruse to force a vulnerable family into perverse sex acts. Kurt Sansone and Matthew Agius report 'Satanic' sex ruse trial ends with 20-year prison sentence