An MCAST student who was caught secretly filming a fellow student over a school toilet cubicle was granted bail and placed under temporary supervision after pleading not guilty upon his arraignment on Tuesday.

The incident allegedly happened at the Mosta campus on Monday morning when a male student suddenly realized that he was being filmed by the 18-year-old in the school toilets.

The alleged victim stopped the other youth from leaving and reported the matter to the school authorities who immediately alerted the police.

The suspected peeping Tom’s mobile was confiscated.

It turned out that the teen had allegedly taken footage of a second student in similar circumstances.

The youth, whose name was banned from publication under court order, was charged with non-consensual taking of private sexual footage, misuse of electronic communications equipment as well as harassing his alleged victims.

Accompanied by his elderly parents and sister, the San Gwann youth pleaded not guilty.

The court upheld a request by defence lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri for a ban on publication of the name.

Prosecuting inspector Godwin Scerri did not object, explaining that investigations were still ongoing. He said that without revealing the accused’s name, the public had a right to know about the case since other potential victims could possibly step forward.

A request for bail was also not objected to as long as adequate conditions were imposed.

“It appears that this was not a one-off incident,” said Scerri, pointing out that there could possibly be more than two victims.

The youth lived with his parents and his sister was a medical professional who would keep him “on a tight leash,” explained Azzopardi. 

Bail was granted against a deposit of €2000, a personal guarantee of €6000, signing of the bail book twice a week and under a curfew between 11:00pm and 7:00am.

The youth may not approach any of the prosecution witnesses or go anywhere near the Mosta school.

A request for a temporary supervision order and a treatment order to address any personal issues faced by the accused, was also upheld.