An Italian prosecutor is considering an appeal after a court sentenced a 29-year-old Bangladeshi man to five years in prison for sexual acts with a minor rather than sexual assault, despite the fact that a 10-year-old girl became pregnant following sexual encounters at a refugee reception center.
The case stems from events that took place in September 2024 at a refugee reception facility in Collio, housed within the “Il Cacciatore” hotel. The girl, who was 10 years old at the time, became pregnant after two sexual encounters with the defendant.
In a ruling, Judge Valeria Rey concluded that while there was sufficient evidence to establish that sexual intercourse had taken place, the prosecution had failed to prove beyond doubt that the encounters involved physical violence, threats, or coercion. As a result, the court reclassified the offense from sexual assault to sexual acts with a minor.
As reported by Giornale di Brescia, the child told investigators that she had been taken by force, sexually abused, and threatened with death if she disclosed what had happened. She described two separate incidents occurring in different rooms within the reception center. Her mother testified that she noticed her daughter appeared distressed during the period in question and later learned that her unhappiness was linked to the defendant’s actions.
However, the judge wrote that the girl’s allegations of violence and threats were not supported by objective evidence. According to the ruling, material recovered from the defendant’s mobile phone did not corroborate either version of events, while surveillance footage from the center failed to capture any scenes of aggression or intimidation.
“The present proceedings feature two competing versions,” the judge wrote. “If one accepts the minor’s version, it will be a case of sexual assault; if one accepts the defendant’s version, the act must be classified as sexual acts with a minor.”
The ruling also addressed a defense argument concerning the girl’s mother. According to the judgment, the mother was presented as being open to the possibility of a future marriage between her daughter and the defendant, despite allegedly being unaware of any sexual relationship between them. The judge noted that child marriage had historically been common in the family’s country of origin and cited UNICEF data stating that around 30 percent of marriages involved minors, with 10 percent involving children under 15.
Judge Rey wrote that this cultural background made the defendant’s account “not implausible,” while stressing that it did not absolve him of criminal responsibility.
Explaining the sentence, the court said the seriousness of the offense justified a starting point of nine years in prison, citing the victim’s age and the fact that the abuse resulted in pregnancy with “evident and profound psychological consequences.”
Bresciaoggi noted that mitigating factors reduced the sentence to six years, before adjustments for multiple offenses increased it to seven years and six months. The summary trial procedure then reduced the final sentence to five years.
The Prosecutor’s Office is now reportedly preparing an appeal, seeking a review of the court’s decision to exclude the more serious charge of sexual assault.
