He is 52 years old, she is 15, but for the judges the man is not guilty: "There was consent" .
This was established by a ruling from the Venice court , read on Wednesday by an all-female panel of three judges. It was reported by several local newspapers, including Corriere del Veneto, Il Gazzettino, and La Nuova Venezia.
The man was facing an eight-year sentence requested by prosecutor Giovanna Zorzi. The affair began in late 2020 with likes on Instagram photos, compliments, and increasingly explicit chats . Then, according to the prosecutor's accusation, the relationship began after he "insistently asked to meet in person" and even after the girl's "categorical refusal."
Furthermore, one day he had had full intercourse "despite her manifest opposition." The court found the girl's version, which she also heard as a witness, unconvincing. The judges deemed her version "implausible," considering the messages she sent him, one of which read "you're mine." There were also nude videos . The girl's parents filed the complaint.
"A ruling that takes us back 30 years : once again, a young woman is being disbelieved and accused of provoking. Her 'you're in' becomes evidence against her word; it's being claimed that her behavior legitimized the conduct of an adult man," commented lawyer Maria Teresa Manente, Head of the Legal Department of Differenza Donna .
"The dynamics we learn from the media," emphasizes Elisa Ercoli, president of Differenza Donna , "tell us of a practice of grooming on social media or instant messaging systems, which often affects very young girls. Their initial 'staying' in that abusive relationship does not mean they consent to the situations they will find themselves in . Institutions' failure to understand the dynamics unfolding as a result of adult men's actions against very young women is true institutional violence—that is, the violence that occurs when institutions, while acknowledging violence, dismiss it as conflict or consent."
(Unioneonline)
