A 26-year-old Żebbuġ man who allegedly engaged in a raunchy online chat with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl with the aim of seeing her naked, yesterday appeared in court charged with attempting to participate in cyber sex with a minor.

Christian Coleiro pleaded not guilty to attempting to participate in cyber sex with underage children and to being in possession of indecent material of minors.

Police investigations began after footage was uploaded online showing the man being filmed allegedly participating in a Skype call with the aim of seeing a 13-year-old naked.

The footage was uploaded by the Facebook page ‘Mr Technical Difficult’, run by an American prankster.

The call ended after the prankster revealed his true identity

The prankster posed as a 13-year-old girl who was willing to strip naked during a chat on Skype, with the aim of tracking online sexual predators.

He first began the conversation through a chat, claiming he was a 13-year-old girl. The Maltese man, whose web cam was switched on, replied with “great”.

The call ended after the prankster switched on his own web cam and revealed his true identity. Mr Coleiro was one of several from around the world who made contact with the “horny” teenager.

Defence lawyers Toni Abela and Maria Karlsson requested a ban on the publication of not only their client’s name but the entire proceedings in court.

But Magistrate Ian Farrugia turned down the request, banning only the publication of submissions made in court and other details of police investigations which were explained in court.

Mr Coleiro, who said he was unemployed, was granted bail against a €500 deposit and a €2,000 personal guarantee. He was also ordered to sign the bail book once a week.

Police inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted.