40 children 'abandoned' in five years - but not all cases are equal

The police prosecuted parents and guardians after 40 children were left abandoned over the last five years, according to statistics. A total of 33 reports involving 50 children, ranging from a newborn to 17-year-olds, were reported but not all resulted in court action, a police spokesman explained. According to statistics provided to Times of Malta by the police, there were 10 reports each in 2017 and 2018, three child abandonment reports in 2019, doubling to six in 2020 and dropping to four cases last year. St Paul’s Bay was the locality with most reported cases of child abandonment, with 12 cases in the past five years. A wide range of scenarios The spokesperson explained that the cases range from reports of children abandoned in cars or in other public spaces to children who strayed away from their parents or guardians. There were a number of cases which, when investigated by the police, did not result in child abandonment and the case was, therefore, not pursued further. Sources said these included reports by jealous neighbours, the result of pique with the child’s parents or reports filed by one parent against the other during the course of separation proceedings. A closer...