Police on Thursday arrested 11
people, including a HIV sufferer, a priest, a trainer of a youth
football team and a municipal policeman on charges of having
paid sex with minors.
The arrests were made in the northern regions of Lombardy
and Emilia Romagna, where police also carried out searches and
seized computers.
In total, over 20 people are implicated in the probe.
Claudio Tonoli, 56, had previously been arrested weeks ago
by police from Montichiari, near Brescia, for allegedly
requesting unprotected sex even though he knew he was a HIV
carrier.
The suspects, who also included Don Diego Rota from the
parish of Solza near Bergamo, are accused of paying for regular
sex with four minors, including in parked cars, leisure centres
and private homes.
The underage youths presented themselves as adults on
social networks, investigative sources said.
The local church authorities expressed their
"astonishment, dismay and profound pain" at the news.
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