Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma announced earlier today that no action will be taken against Gozitan priest Michael Said following two separate investigations commissioned by the Church, one by the Safeguarding Commission and another by the Gozitan Curia.
The Bishop said that, following press reports about the case, the Church initiated its own investigations and appealed to the media and the public not to pass judgment.
The Maltese Herald was the first media outlet to reveal the identity of the priest and further details about the hush-money deal.
The scandal resurfaced earlier this year following a Court of Appeal judgment concerning allegations that a 14-year-old girl had been raped in Gozo in 2008. Court testimony showed that Michael Said acted as an intermediary between the two families after the girl’s family had filed a police report. The family subsequently received €7,000 and withdrew its complaint. The girl’s parents later testified that they regretted accepting the arrangement.
The Bishop said today that Michael Said was not the person who proposed the payment and that the priest had already been in contact with the victim’s family before the incident through his pastoral work. According to the Bishop, Said did not exert pressure on the family, although his involvement in the arrangement was wrong and regrettable.
Both Church investigations ultimately exculpated the priest from wrongdoing and concluded that there were no grounds for disciplinary action.
The conclusion nevertheless leaves intact the basic facts established in the court proceedings: Michael Said participated as an intermediary in an arrangement under which money was passed to the family shortly after a criminal complaint concerning the rape of a 14-year-old girl had been filed.
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