Police on Thursday arrested 11
people, including an HIV sufferer, a priest, youth football
coach and a municipal policeman on charges of paying underage
boys for sex.
A 12th suspect is still at large, police said.
The arrests were made in the northern regions of Lombardy
and Emilia Romagna, where police also carried out searches and
seized computers in the probe implicating a total of 20 people.
Prosecutors say that while the four boys aged 15-17 posed
as adults on social media, they made no attempt to conceal their
true ages when they met their prospective clients in the flesh.
"They never lied about their age, which was clearly to be
perceived when the meetings took place," Preliminary
Investigations Judge Alessandra Sabatucci wrote in her bench
warrants.
"The very nature of the crime demonstrates how the
suspects' impulses prevailed over any elementary consideration
as to the damaging psychological and physical consequences they
caused in their young victims".
Among the suspects is Claudio Tonoli, 56, who has priors
because he was arrested weeks ago in the town of Montichiari,
near Brescia, for allegedly requesting unprotected sex while
knowing he is an HIV carrier.
He was also reportedly picked up years ago after showing
child porn to a 13-year-old.
The suspects also include Father Diego Rota, from the
parish of the town of Solza near Bergamo.
Police say they discovered a September 10 phone message
string in which one of the teens asked him: "How many more times
do we have to do it for free?"
"We just got started," Father Rota reportedly replied.
"You still have 15 sessions to go out of the 20 we agreed
on. If you do better and stop standing me up, I might give you a
break".
Local church authorities expressed their "astonishment,
dismay and profound pain" at the news.
Police say the assignations took place in cars, cemeteries,
leisure centers, supermarket parking lots, and private
residences.
The investigation was sparked by the mother of one of the
teens, who turned to the authorities after she discovered
sexually charged messages on her son's cell phone.
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