Nine years jail confirmed for art teacher who defiled five girls in Fgura garage

An appeals court has confirmed a nine-year prison sentence handed down to an art teacher convicted of defiling five girls in the Fgura garage where he gave private lessons.

Carmel Agius, 58, abused his position of trust when he abused the girls, who were aged 10 and 12 at the time, the court ruled. 

“The accused did not show any remorse for what he did but instead tried to blame the minors,” Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera said.“The court also notes the negative impact that this traumatic experience had on the girls at such a tender age.”

Agius, 58, was originally sentenced in December 2025 after being found guilty of corrupting five minors and subjecting them to sexually inappropriate behaviour during private art lessons held in a garage in Fgura.

The offences took place mainly in 2019 and early 2020 and involved girls aged between 10 and 12.

Evidence presented in court showed that Agius engaged in repeated acts of a sexual nature, including inappropriate touching, suggestive gestures and conduct with sexual connotations.

Several victims testified that he would position them in specific areas during lessons that were not covered by security cameras.

One girl said he put his hand in her trousers, another said he touched her thigh and squeezed it, and several said he licked his lips while looking at them and touched their ears.

The court found that some of the abuse took place under the table while students were seated.

The case came to light in February 2020 after one of the minors disclosed the abuse to her parents, prompting a police report.

Subsequent investigations led to further allegations from other students who had attended the same classes.

Police carried out searches at the premises and seized electronic equipment, while forensic experts analysed security camera footage and digital devices.

Court-appointed psychologists and psychiatrists concluded that the victims’ accounts were consistent and credible.

In his appeal, Agius argued that the first court had given excessive weight to the minors’ testimonies and insufficient consideration to his denial, claiming that the case had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

He insisted that what the girls claimed was not true.

He also disputed that his actions had any sexual connotations and argued that the sentence was excessive.

However, after reviewing the evidence, the appeals court rejected his arguments and upheld the original judgment.

In 2023, Agius was separately sentenced to two years in prison for groping a pupil during school art lessons in 2018.