Group home director arrested for abuse

(ANSA) - Rome, May 13 - Police on Wednesday arrested the director of a group home in the seaside town of Santa Marinella near Rome on charges of sexually abusing the minors in his care.
    As well, four female staff of Il Monello Mare were issued restraining orders forbidding them from entering the group home for minors from troubled families, which has been shut down pending a police investigation.
    Prosecutors say some of the minors who lived there were subjected to beatings and threats by staff, who forced them to eat expired food and administered sedatives and tranquilizers without a doctor's prescription.
    The investigation was sparked when some of the victims alerted a social worker.