Priest arrested for abuse of 11-year-old girl in Caserta
A priest from the Diocese of Aversa has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse of a minor. The girl secretly recorded the encounters in the parish.
Priest from Diocese of Aversa arrested
A priest has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse of an eleven-year-old girl in the Caserta area. According to ilmessaggero.it, investigators considered the priest particularly dangerous due to the "deviant personality" he displayed towards the minor. Judge Antonino Santoro signed the restrictive measure based on evidence described as "granite-solid" by public prosecutor Paolo Martinelli, who closed the investigation on 24 September.
The denunciation and confessions
The proceedings were initiated following a confession made by the priest to the Bishop of Aversa, Angelo Spinillo, on 24 May. On that occasion the priest admitted to having experienced "a moment of weakness during which, indeed, I adopted behaviour inconsistent with the relationship that ought to exist between a priest and a minor". A few days later, the prosecutor of the North Naples office Francesco Greco opened a file for sexual abuse, which was subsequently followed by an incidental interrogation of the victim during the summer.
The recordings and evidence
The girl secretly recorded the encounters in the parish, obtaining audio files during which the priest asked her for "little kisses and hugs" whilst she attempted to escape with strangled whispers ("Enough... enough"). According to the charge, a relationship had developed between the priest and the minor which the defendant described as "like between sweethearts", which he then defined as a "little story" when the girl tried to break it off. The recordings, together with the victim's confessions made in incidental examination, form the backbone of the fifty-page order from the judge.
The context and family reaction
For months nobody in the parish or in the girl's family had noticed anything unusual. The priest was a weekly dinner guest and gave presents to the girl, including a rucksack and a computer. The girl sought help from catechists in vain and confided in her mother, who initially believed the priest rather than her daughter. The minor entrusted her ordeal to a diary, also noting the doubt "But is it sex what he and Don Michele do?". Approximately seven days before the arrest, the girl's father pursued the priest on the Asse mediano in his car, forcing him off the road and attempting to assault him; he was stopped by two motorcyclists. This was the third attempt at "private justice" since May.
Measures and subsequent proceedings
Since May the diocese had removed the priest from the parish of San Giorgio Martire in Trentola Ducenta and had placed him in isolation in a convent in Giugliano. At the end of October the priest left the confinement and moved in with his brother in Qualiano, where the police carried out a search before the arrest. He was taken to Secondigliano prison, which has a specialist unit for sexual offenders. A meeting with the judge was scheduled for the following Monday.
The defence
Lawyer Antimo D'Alterio, representing the priest, stated that his client had made himself available to the prosecutor since May, despite not having been interrogated. He also emphasised that "the precautionary measures, five months after the facts, are questionable" and that "a less restrictive measure could have been applied", whilst confirming the existence of the partial admissions made to the bishop. The defence counsel added that "the gravity of the facts alleged by the magistrates requires that they be discussed only in the appropriate forums".
Precedents in the diocese
With this arrest, the priest becomes the second from the Diocese of Aversa to end up in prison, after Michele Barone, an exorcist known for his links to the visionaries of Medjugorje.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)