Thirteen boys aged between 15 and 20 and a girl, 16, were found guilty today of having defiled a number of girls, violently and indecently assaulting them and of performing lewd sexual acts in a public place. Three of the boys were also convicted of rape.

The cases date back to the summer of 2004. In total there were 16 female victims, one of whom was just 12 years old, the court heard. Names cannot be published because the accused, except for one, were minor at the time.

The court heard the accused were in a gang who used to roam the Marsascala area. They used to meet the victims and draw them to the common area of Ta' Monita flats, where most of the sexual acts took place. The building was abandoned at the time. Some of the crimes also took place in a car.

The accused were also convicted of extortion since they forced some of their victims to hand over their money and mobile phones. 

The victims were told that unless they paid up, their parents would be informed that they had engaged in sexual acts, the court heard.

The cases were revealed by one of the victims, a girl, who told her father who filed a police report.  A number of the boys were also convicted of thefts from cars.

The only girl among the accused was also convicted of showing porn videos to the victims. She was jailed for 18 months.

Two of the boys were jailed for two years. Of the other boys, two were jailed for 18 months, one was jailed for 12 months, and another for nine months. One of the boys had a six-month jail term suspended for two years, and another had a one-year jail term suspended for two years.

Three boys were sentenced to a nine-month jail term suspended for two years. Another was jailed for six months, suspended for two years.