BARI – They would have induced, favored, exploited, managed and organized the prostitution of three underage girls, making a huge profit from the sexual services offered, for a fee, to various customers. The illegal activity allegedly took place in some accommodation facilities, including luxury ones. This is what the Mobile team of Bari discovered which, at the first light of dawn, in the capital of Puglia, in Rome, Trani and Lecce, carried out a precautionary measure, issued by the judge of the preliminary investigations of the Court, at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Repubblica, against ten people, four women, aged 35, 21, 25 and 24 respectively, all of whom ended up in prison, and six men. Of the latter, a 29-year-old and a 25-year-old from Bari were arrested and locked up in a prison.
Two clients, aged 47 and 42, were placed under house arrest: they were apparently aware that the girls were underage and, despite this, they did not hesitate to have sexual relations with the young women in exchange for money.
For a third customer, aged 55, the obligation to reside in the municipality of residence was adopted. The same precautionary measure was ordered against a 45-year-old from Bari, manager of an accommodation facility in which he allegedly tolerated the habitual practice of prostitution. The investigations were started by the Bari Flying Squad in March 2022, following the complaint presented by the mother of a 16-year-old, who noticed anomalous behavior in her daughter and found that she was dating an adult. The latter was described in the advertisement published as an escort operating in the Marche region. Thanks to stalking, stakeouts, interceptions, numerous hearings, including those of minors involved in prostitution, carried out with the help of psychologists, investigative elements were acquired which led to the police operation carried out this morning.
The events would have taken place in some accommodation facilities, including luxury ones, in the provinces of Bari and Bat, starting from October 2021. The minors, 16 at the time, would have been lured and introduced into the world of prostitution with the promise found to be easy to earn. Some customers would have paid hundreds of euros for single sexual services. The money earned through prostitution would be used by the girls to buy clothes, bags and dine in expensive restaurants. They would have adopted the necessary precautions to prevent their relatives from discovering their considerable financial resources and the purchases made. To manage the activity, dedicated telephone numbers would have been used, inserted in specific online advertisements; someone would have booked the accommodation facilities, others would have accompanied the girls to the rooms and still others would have received phone calls from customers, setting up appointments. The arrested adults and the 29-year-old alleged exploiter from Bari would have waited in adjacent rooms for the minors to finish their services, to personally receive the money from the clients and pay the girls their share, corresponding to 50% of the sum received.
