A man who admitted to pleasuring himself in front of female underage students on a beach had committed the same crime 20 years ago, a court heard yesterday.

Prosecuting Police Inspector Dennis Theuma said John Cardona, 57, from Ħamrun, had admitted to the charge after that 1992 incident as well.

The inspector was making submissions on punishment before Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia who appointed a psychologist to carry out an examination of the accused.

Mr Cardona, a happily married father-of-two, is currently out on bail awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty on Sunday to defilement of minors and public indecency.

Sources said Mr Cardona admitted to the police that he had been carrying out the act at St George’s Bay since the beginning of summer, in an area he believed was hidden, while watching girls sunbathing on the sandy beach.

The police started investigating when they were approached by a group of around eight underage girls who said they had seen what the man was doing.

Mr Cardona, who appeared in court yesterday accompanied by his wife and one of his adult sons, told the police he knew that what he had done was wrong and it was worse if the girls were underage.

When asked what he was doing at the bay, at first he told the police he only happened to be passing by.

Also during questioning, Mr Cardona told the police he had no problems in his marriage.

During yesterday’s sitting, his lawyer Joe Giglio asked the court to appoint an expert to assess his client’s mental health.

Rather than leafing through the laws to find that the crime carried a punishment of between three months and three years, the court should dig deeper and establish what could have led to it.

“The court should see why it happened. Does he need help? Can it be cured? The court should nominate someone to relate about his mental condition because it’s not something normal. Could it be there is more to it? We believe that psychologically there is something that needs to be addressed.”

The prosecution agreed that something needed be done and this was when they mentioned the 1992 crime.

Magistrate Farrugia upheld the request and gave psychologist Edward Curmi until August 8 to report to the court, prior to sentencing.

Police Inspectors Theuma, Luke Bonello and Trevor Micallef prosecuted.