TARANTO – A 75-year-old from the province of Taranto is accused of having kidnapped and forced a disabled person to suffer sexual abuse and now risks ending up on trial. After the conclusion of the investigations, the public prosecutor Francesca Colaci requested the indictment of the elderly man defended by the lawyer Gaetano Cimaglia.
Judge Benedetto Ruberto will decide whether or not there are grounds for opening a trial unless the defense requests access to alternative rites.
According to the prosecutor Colaci, the defendant “with violence and threats” forced a 58-year-old with physical and mental disabilities to submit to his wishes, initially against his will and then inducing him by taking advantage of his conditions of mental inferiority at the time of the crime.
The first two episodes that came under the scrutiny of the investigators occurred in January and March 2022 when the 75-year-old, after having invited the victim home, deprived him of his freedom by closing the door of the house, taking away the keys and telling him that he would only open the door for him. if he had bent to satisfy his appetites. With the victim’s refusals, the threats began: “You’re not leaving if you don’t do what I say” or “You’re not leaving here alive.” And so he had forced him to undress and submit to his orders, continuing to swear to intimidate him.
But the facts were also repeated subsequently and at least until June 2022: on several occasions, according to the prosecution, the accused, aware of the victim’s physical and mental inferiority, continued to invite him to his home, instilling in him the fear that he would tell the entire country of their history.
Only later did the victim find the courage to tell that nightmare and from that moment the investigative activities began: for the prosecution there are all the elements to prove the 75-year-old’s guilt, but the lawyer Cimaglia will instead try to undermine the accusatory system of the prosecutor’s office. Finally, as mentioned, judge Ruberto will have to issue an initial decision on the matter, establishing whether to send the man to trial or order his acquittal.
