PD files child sex abuse bill

(ANSA) - Rome, May 26 - Democratic Party (PD) MP Donatella Ferranti said Thursday she has filed a bill in the Lower House making sexual abuse of children aged 10-14 years an indictable offense.
    Currently the law says child sexual abuse is only indictable if the victim is under 10 years old - in which case the offender is prosecuted for aggravated rape - or aged between 14 and 18, in which case the offender is prosecuted for underage prostitution.
    If the victim is 10-14, someone has to make a complaint before prosecutors can take action.
    "The bill is meant to correct an error in the penal code which has been brought to light by some very serious cases in the news recently," said Ferranti, who chairs the Lower House justice committee.
    The current legal vacuum leads to "aberrant situations in which, in spite of flagrant offenses and overwhelming evidence, the guilty can't be prosecuted because the parents are afraid to report the abuse, or because the parents are absent - just think of all the minors reaching Italy on their own," Ferranti said.