A man was jailed for three years for the possession and circulation of child pornographic material.

Ronnie Farrugia, 64, of Cospicua had admitted to the charges during an arraignment two weeks ago. 

Magistrate Monica Vella had heard how police investigated Farrugia after receiving three reports through the Cybercrime Unit.

The unit had been alerted by the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - a non-profit corporation whose mission is to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization in an international scale.

NCMEC works with families, victims, private industry, law enforcement, and the public to assist with preventing child abductions, recovering missing children, and providing services to deter and combat child sexual exploitation.

Listed on sex offenders’ register

Following the admission and conviction, Farrugia was listed on the sex offenders’ register. 

The register, administered by the court, had 118 convicted paedophiles listed until April this year.  Checking if someone features on the register can only be done at the discretion of a judge.

Since its inception in 2012, there have been just under 6,200 applications from people or organisations asking to access the register until April.

Educators, employers and organisations responsible for children’s well-being, who want to ensure that any member of staff who comes into contact with children in their care is not a predator, must file an application before the First Hall of the Civil Court through a lawyer.

The application is also sent to the attorney general who has seven days to reply to the request.

The application and reply are seen by a judge who appoints a hearing at which the parties make oral submissions detailing the names of the person or people they want to check and the reason why.

If permission is granted, the judge orders the court registrar to check the register for the supplied name or names and informs the applicants of the outcome of the search.