A man tasked with looking after vulnerable girls seeking asylum in Malta tried to get them to have sex with him for money, a court has found. 

Norman Bugeja, 61, would enter their rooms, expose himself and ask for sexual favours in exchange of €20 or €50, a court heard. 

Four different girls, all aged 16 at the time and residing in a care home, testified in the case.

Three of the girls slept in the same room, and all testified that Bugeja would appear in the dead of night, wake up one of the girls and try and get her to follow him. Her roommates all corroborated her version of events.  

A fourth girl, who lived in a separate room, also testified that Bugeja would expose himself and offer her money for sexual favours. On another occasion, Bugeja touched her behind and offered her €20 for sex as she was bent over to collect washing, she said. 

She testified that she refused but kept the €20 note to show to the police. 

Bugeja was the only worker at the care home who would enter the room alone, she said. All others always worked in couples that included at least one woman. 

Photos presented in court also showed him entering the rooms alone. 

The girls all said that Bugeja would treat them harshly, order them to clean and throw water in their faces from time to time. 

Having heard all the evidence, a court found Bugeja guilty of committing non-consensual sexual acts with other people and of soliciting sexual favours from the girls. 

He was however cleared of offending public morals in a public place and of committing an offence that he was duty-bound to stop as a public officer, with the court saying those two charges had not been sufficiently proven. 

Although Bugeja faced anything between three and seven years in prison, the court opted to spare him time behind bars. 

Instead, he was placed under a three-year probation order and ordered to pay an €8,000 fine. The accused must also pay just over €2,300 in court fees. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri represented the defendant.