A man has been jailed for six years after a court found him guilty of defiling two minors when he exposed his genitals on a bus and made masturbating gestures in their presence.

Abdulsalam Yahya, a Sudanese national, was accused of defiling two 14-year-old boys, offending public morals, sexually harassing them and breaching the public peace. He denied the charges.

The incident took on place on a bus which was heading from Malta International Airport to Marsascala on March 5, 2025.

From the testimony of the minors it emerged that on the day they had gone fishing at Marsaxlokk and were returning home by bus. They got a bus from the airport when they noticed the accused, who got on the same bus.

The said the man was behaving in “a strange manner”, and asked the boys for their name and whether they were girls or boys.

One of the boys saw him exposing his genitals. The man made gestures like he had been masturbating, and one of the boys said he feared he would sexually assault him.

The boy told the court that the man pulled his trousers down, showed them his genitals before putting them back up. He then spat into a bag.

The boy called his father who waited for them at the Marsascala bus terminus.

When they arrived, the children walked up to the boy’s father, and the accused went in the opposite direction. The boy’s father held the man before others intervened to hold him until the police arrived at the scene to arrest him.

The bus driver testified that the two boys were tearful and that the father of one them was waiting at the terminus. It was then that he learnt what had happened.

The court observed that the boys were consistent throughout in their testimony and “visibly emotional” as they recounted what happened that day. The accused decided to take the witness stand but he only said that he was on the bus and there were two boys, but claimed he could not remember anything else.

Yahya’s version was not deemed credible by the court, who could not recall what happened on the day.

On punishment, the court took into account that the man showed no remorse for what had happened.

The man was found guilty of all the charges brought against him and was jailed for six years. A three-year restraining order was issued in favour of the victims.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit presided.

AG lawyer Jennifer Polidano prosecuted, assisted by police inspectors Dorianne Tabone and Kurt Farrugia.