Abuse man wanted to prove innocence (3)

(ANSA) - Cassino, January 23 - A prison guard who hanged himself Monday after being placed under investigation for sexually abusing his 14-year-old daughter wanted to prove his innocence, his lawyer Domenico Di Tano said Tuesday. "There was a total desire to collaborate with the magistrature and demonstrate his innocence," Di Tano said. "I last heard from him a few days ago, we talked about appointing a consultant in view of the upcoming evidentiary hearing," the lawyer said.
    The prison guard from the southern town of Cassino near Naples was found hanged Monday morning outside a church at Roccasecca near Frosinone, and his widow later said the case against him had not been proven.
    A local court had ordered the 54-year-old man to leave the family home after the girl revealed the abuse in a school essay and his movements were monitored via an electronic bracelet.
    He hanged himself at the entrance of the small mountain church near Cassino and did not leave a suicide note.
    The girl's mother reported the case to the authorities after being summoned by the school's principal following the essay, in which the teen said she suffered abuse "every time he and I were alone".
    A warrant from a preliminary investigations judge said that the mother had told the girl not to "be alone with dad".
    The woman had also spoken about a worrying episode that her first daughter, who is now 28, was victim of.
    On that occasion the man had "promised that similar deeds would not happen again".
    The couple'ss five children were all female - three girls are still living at home while the two who are over 18 are married.
    The man's widow said late Monday "we didn't yet know if it was true".
    Speaking to GR1, she said "many things that weren't true have been said, what you said yesterday and the day before drove him to this". The tearful woman told the radio station of State broadcaster RAI that she was "very, very angry".