Benevento. An honorary deputy prosecutor, in service at the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Lecce court at the time of the events, and a cardiologist from the Benevento hospital were placed under house arrest by the Guardia di Finanza of the Salento capital.
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The order was issued by the Court of Appeal of Naples upon appeal by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Benevento, which coordinated the investigations of the GICO (Organized Crime Investigation Group) of the Guardia di Finanza.
The precautionary measure was confirmed by the Court of Cassation after the appeal presented by the defendants was declared inadmissible.
Both are accused of gang rape, aggravated for the Benevento doctor who allegedly acted as a public official in the exercise of his duties, with the active participation of the alleged accomplice, the deputy prosecutor.
The facts would have taken place in a hospital in Benevento during fake medical visits. On these occasions, the following would have occurred: “highly intrusive acts in the sexual freedom of the unaware patients, induced to undress and be groped by the doctor and the honorary vice-prosecutor, who described himself as a colleague of the cardiologist“, writes the Prosecutor’s Office in a note.
Everything was allegedly filmed on video by the two alleged perpetrators. The investigations began with the transmission of the documents for jurisdiction by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Potenza.
During an investigative activity with a different orientation, it emerged that one of the suspects, an honorary deputy prosecutor at the Lecce Public Prosecutor's Office, went to a hospital in Benevento, pretending to be a health professional and carrying out, together with his accomplice, systematic acts of sexual violence and groping against unaware women who were formally undergoing a medical examination.
The two also filmed the sexual acts
After the acquisition of the news of the crime and the necessary investigative investigations, supported by technical activity through the use of bugs and further interceptions, in June 2023 a precautionary measure was requested against the two men for sexual violence aggravated group, unauthorized practice of the medical profession, unlawful interference in private life and unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit images and videos made by a public official within the Benevento hospital.
The request for precautionary measures was initially rejected by the investigating judge at the Court of Benevento.
This measure was appealed by the Public Prosecutor and submitted to the Court of Review of Naples, which in February 2024 accepted the appeal of the PM for the conduct of aggravated gang rape, applying the measure of house arrest for the suspects. The remaining requests of the PM were rejected.
Both the defendants and the PM appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation. The Supreme Court of Cassation, on June 13, 2024, declared the appeal of the defense of the defendants inadmissible and accepted the appeal of the Benevento Prosecutor's Office for the other counts.
Consequently, the provision of the Court of Naples regarding house arrest has become enforceable, while the Court of Appeal of Naples will have to rule again on the appeal of the PM for the requests not accepted.
Article published on 19 June 2024 - 09:47
