Mattia Lucarelli, son of the former striker Cristiano, and Federico Apolloni, the two young former Livorno footballers accused of sexual violence against a 22-year-old American student, were sentenced to 3 years and 7 months. The decision was taken by the Milan magistrate Roberto Crepaldi at the end of the abbreviated trial in which there were three other defendants. Lower sentences (between 2 years 5 months and 2 years and 8 months) for the other three defendants, friends of the two.
Sexual abuse of a disabled, young person under trial
The two players ended up at House arrest in January 2023 and in June they were released. The prosecutor’s investigation had hypothesized a suspect gang rape which dates back to the night between 26 and 27 March 2022.
The sentence
The sentence established a provisional amount of 50 thousand euros for the victim, the judge recognized gang rape for all, the lowest sentence of the three is linked to a mitigating factor “for contribution of minimal importance”. The preliminary hearing judge accepted, in part, the request of the public prosecutor Alessia Menegazzo who had asked for a sentence of three and a half years for each of the accused, already discounted by a third for the chosen rite.
The reconstruction
The group of friends had met the girl outside a nightclub in the Sempione area, according to the prosecutor’s office. The 22-year-old had gotten into the car and asked to be taken to her house, but the five of her had taken her to the footballer’s home. At the center of the trial were the young woman’s conditions at the time of sexual intercourse. According to the prosecution’s consultants, the student was impaired, so much so that she was “unconscious”, and the five took advantage of this condition.
According to the defense consultants, however, the girl was not in such a state of alteration as to be incapable of expressing consent and indeed, the defense claims with its experts, her blood alcohol level was below 0.5, which allows her to drive . An argument that did not convince the judge: the reasons will be made known in 90 days. “The kids are devastated,” said one of the defendants’ lawyers, all present in the courtroom.
The post on Instagram
«It is very clear that it is a defeat, especially because we were hopeful of being able to close this story immediately despite the difficulties». Thus Mattia Lucarelli, son of the former Livorno striker, commenting on Instagram on the sentence of 3 years and 7 months for sexual assault against an American student. «We all know that things often don’t go the way they should go. It’s life,” continued the young man.
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