Italian PM Berlusconi Indicted on Teen Sex Charges
- Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:07am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
MILAN (AP) — An Italian judge on Tuesday ordered Premier Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old Moroccan girl, then tried to cover it up.
Berlusconi has stood trial on a number of business-related charges, but this is the first time the 74-year-old billionaire businessman is being tried for personal conduct. Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing, accusing the prosecutors of seeking to oust him from power.
Judge Cristina Di Censo handed down the indictment with a terse statement. The trial is to begin April 6, and will be heard by a panel of three judges, all of them women.
The decision means Di Censo believes there is sufficient evidence to subject Berlusconi to an immediate trial, as has been requested by prosecutors. The sped-up procedure skips the preliminary hearing stage and is ordered in cases of overwhelming evidence. Paying for sex with a prostitute is not a crime in Italy, but it is if the prostitute is under 18.
Berlusconi has called the accusations “groundless” and dismissed the case as a “farce.”
But the indictment adds to Berlusconi’s troubles at a time when the three-time premier is politically vulnerable following a split with an ex-ally, and will increase pressure on him to resign – a possibility he has repeatedly rejected.
“We didn’t expect anything different,” one of Berlusconi’s attorneys, Piero Longo, was quoted as saying by the Affaritaliani website.
Prosecutors allege Berlusconi paid for sex with the Moroccan girl, nicknamed Ruby, then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for the unrelated suspected theft of euro3,000 ($4,103). They allege that Berlusconi feared her relationship to him would be revealed.
Both Berlusconi and Ruby have denied having sexual relations, although she has said Berlusconi gave her euro7,000 ($9,550) on their first meeting.
The child prostitution charge carries a possible prison sentence of six months to three years. The abuse of influence charge, which experts say is more dangerous for Berlusconi, carries a possible sentence of four to 12 years.
The trial brings to four the number of judicial cases Berlusconi is currently battling. They will all be starting or resuming in coming weeks, after Italy’s highest-court recently watered down an immunity bill his government had passed to suspend the trials.
Berlusconi is charged in a tax fraud case relating to his Mediaset media empire, and charged with bribery in another case. Another tax fraud case, but pertaining to more recent events than the ongoing Mediaset trial, will continue with a preliminary hearing next month.
Berlusconi has always denied wrongdoing in the many cases involving his media holdings, and has either been acquitted or seen the statute of limitations expire – something that is considered likely in two of the trials now under way.
He has long contended he is the victim of a political vendetta orchestrated by what he says are left-leaning prosecutors.
Comments (30)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 700 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 530 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 357 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 356 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 347 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 347 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 357 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 272 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 347 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
UpstateNYConservative
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 11:24amThe ones most outraged in Italy over this are the women. Imagine how different things would have been if American feminists went after Clinton the same way, instead of giving Slick a pass.
Report Post »Conservative Hippy
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 9:40amI could imagine this guy and Clinton on a man trip to Vegas… invite over their friend Charlie Sheen… some of his girls… let the good times roll!…
Report Post »wash1776
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 9:22amHe needs to have it tied in a knot to match the one in his head where his brain is supposed to be.
Report Post »HippoNips
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 9:00amItalian poltics are like Chicago poltics throughout the entire country except with more than a dozen parties , It’s likely this accusation is a dirty poltical attack generated by his opposition.
Report Post »RobR
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:51amI think this time Berlusconi needs to call in the big gun of world political perverts, Bill Clinton, so he can get strait what the meaning of the word is, is.
Report Post »Guerrino_P
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 1:25pmClinton is no slouch but he isn’t even close to being in the same league as Berlusconi. Old Silvio’s a true champ. I hate to admit it but, dirty-shirt Clinton was a much better president than both Bush’s.
Report Post »ConservativeBeauty
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:15amIf he did do this, what a dirty old sod.
Report Post »Guerrino_P
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:34amHe did do it. But isn’t this one of the benefits of being a world leader? Remember, this guy is a conservative and we should stand buy him. He is a billionaire and employs thousands of people. He isn’t a commie SOB. God bless him.
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:49amFar right in Italy = pretty far left in America.
Report Post »TheAmericanRifleman
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:14amIt sounds like sombodys trying to take him out. He has the credentials and the record for a Tzar position on Obamas team.
Report Post »RN MOM
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:05amI hope they have some good evidence since Ruby isn’t dishing on him! Also, I noticed Berlusconi has a media empire, just like our very own Bloomberg.
Report Post »Hondaman
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:58amAnd they elected this guy??? Stupid electing stupid.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:11amDidn’t we have Bill Clinton for 8 long years?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:18am.
Yes we did, but Bill never did anyone like this.
All we got was a cow in a blue dress lmao……
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:36amAgreed SpankDaMonkey, I mean couldn’t the leader of the free world find something better than Lewinsky? At least Kennedy went for the best.
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:49amYou don’t think that Lewinsky was the only woman Clinton had an affair with? She’s just the only one he got in hot water over.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:55am.
@Non
Hot water would have got the stain out…..
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:28am.
The censor is out this morning.
Watch the sex talk about a story that is about sex…..
Report Post »NickDeringer
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:25amNow if Berlusconi had only directed a few Left wing movies, he’d be a hero.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:24am.
Report Post »Where is the video tape. No Tape No Conviction………………
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:30am.
His wife is Hot! Wonder if he pays her too………………….
The truth is he should have to pay for sex even if he’s by himself…..
Report Post »blanco
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:14amIs this guy the perv he is said to be or are there other things at play here?
Report Post »cnsrvtvj
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:30amI was wondering the same thing Blanco. It seems like he would be smart enough by now to be more discreet. Yet every month there seems to be another story about this guy have a wild time.
http://www.donsmithshow.com – see the Michelle Obama Hypocrisy video
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 7:49amIf he loses and has to step down, maybe Planned Parenthood could pick him up to manage things there…perv
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 8:47amThe point is that he doesn’t HAVE to be careful. He does this all the time and never gets called out on it. Good thing this happened, Italian politics are a joke as is. These people need politicians who think with their brains, not their ******.
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 9:20amI hope if he did it he gets the same prosecutor and Judges the cute little Amanda Knox has had, that has kept her in jail all these years before convicting her with all the trumped up evidence.This mess would have been thrown out the first day of a U,s. court. This creep that is about to be tried could have let her go home years ago also. If they have enough evidence I hope they follow thru with it and not let him buy his way out of it..
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 10:31am@ NON-SEQUITUR…….couldn’t agree more than with your statement. They are most definitely a joke and am glad that he is getting exposed (figuratively).
Report Post »encinom
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 10:31amOh no, isn;t this one of the lynch pins that Beck pointed to that will lead to the european caliphate. For the sake of europe Berlusconi must be immune from all charges, I mean prophet Beck foreseen the fall of ecurope otherwise.
Report Post »beckisnutsisnuts
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 11:46amYou really are a dufus, aren’t you?
Report Post »encinom
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 1:13pm@beckisnutsisnuts
Have you not been watching the morman messiah for the last two weeks, he clearly linked the protests in Italy regarding Berlusconi’s various misdeeds with the mideast unrest and the world wide caliphate, clearly this must be bad news if Becky is to be believed.
Report Post »