Carabiniere gets 4 yrs, 8 mts for rape

(ANSA) - Florence, October 11 - Marco Camuffo, one of two Carabinieri police officers accused of raping two American students in Florence in September 2017, was convicted and sentenced to 4 years, 8 months in jail after he opted for a fast-track trial. The other Carabiniere, Pietro Costa, did not opt for the fast-track procedure and will face his first hearing on May 10, 2019. Prosecutors had asked for 5 years, 8 months for Camuffo.
    Camuffo and Costa, both subsequently ejected from the force, were accused of raping the students, aged 20 and 21, after taking them home from a nightclub in their police car.
    The students confirmed to investigarors that they were raped by the two on-duty Carabinieri police in Florence on September 7, 2017.
    The 21-year-old reportedly wept as she told them what happened.
    Lawyers for the Carabinieri, who deny the charges, said their clients had nothing to apologise for, saying they were "foolish" to give them lifts home.
    The pair have said the sex was consensual.
    After helping quell a fight in a Florence disco, the cops took the women back to their central Florence flat where the students said they were raped, one in the lobby and the other in the lift.
    The officers have been suspended from the paramilitary force, which is part of the defence ministry.