Eight years in prison. This is what Attorney General Marco Nassi requested today in the Court of Appeal in Sassari against a 75-year-old man accused of sexual assault . The alleged victim , in 2018, the year of the indictment, was 12 years old and, according to the charges, had been approached by the man in Sassari.
The incidents allegedly occurred in the defendant's home, and were witnessed, on one occasion, by the girl's brother. The entire incident was reconstructed during the preliminary investigation phase, with the help of a psychological assessment and, subsequently, a psychiatric evaluation. This assessment revealed the experiences the twelve-year-old girl had experienced, recalling a series of mnemonic fragments that were not always linear. The pre-adolescent was then placed in a protected home , partly due to the living conditions she experienced within her family context. In the first instance, the man, represented by lawyer Sabrina Falchi, was acquitted by the panel "because the facts were not proven."
During the trial, the defense deemed the testimony of the alleged victim's mother, neighbor, and brother to be unreliable. Now, in the appeal court, the same witnesses, including the girl, who has since become an adult, testified in court, reiterating what they had previously stated. The new panel, presided over by Maria Teresa Lupinu, with Carmela Rita Serra and Giovanni Maria Delogu as associates, adjourned the hearing until June for the defense's oral argument .