Italian prosecutors have asked a court to sentence a 19-year-old man of Moroccan origin who holds Italian citizenship to 14 years and eight months in prison, calling him a “sexual predator” in a case involving the rape, beating and robbery of a 54-year-old woman and two earlier attempted sexual assaults.
The request came Monday in an abbreviated trial before a Modena court, according to Il Resto del Carlino. Prosecutor Ilaria Corbelli sought the term due to aggravated sexual violence, injuries and robbery.
The main attack occurred Aug. 19, 2025, on the Vivi Natura path in San Damaso, a district of Modena. Investigators say the defendant, who had no prior record, approached the woman while his face was covered, dragged her into some bushes, bound her, and sexually assaulted her. He also stole her electric bicycle.
After the assault he placed a cord around her neck, she told authorities.
“Now that you’ve seen me, I’ll kill you,” the defendant threatened, according to the victim’s lawyer, Peter Martinelli, who has asked the judge to return the case file so prosecutors can add an attempted murder charge.
Martinelli cited the cord, the pressure on her neck and the injuries.
The same defendant is accused of attempted sexual assaults on Feb. 12 in Castelfranco Emilia and on May 23 near the Sant’Anna lakes, close to the site of the August attack. Police identified him in part through the 54-year-old woman’s description and an identikit she helped produce shortly after the assault.
A court-appointed psychiatric expert, Matilde Forghieri, concluded he was fully capable of understanding and willing his actions at the time. The report also noted a significant cognitive deficit. The defendant has confessed to the offenses, defense lawyer Enrico Fontana said.
“For us this is an excessive and disproportionate sentence,” Fontana said. “We do not dispute our client’s responsibility, which he has confessed. We will ask that he be sentenced to a just penalty provided by law for these facts.”
Fontana said the defendant, who was 19 at the time, attempted suicide in jail and handed over a handwritten letter of apology to the victims and his family.
The 54-year-old woman attended the hearing.
“It is hard to relive that day. I have confidence in the judge’s decision,” she said. She also thanked the mobile police squad led by Mario Paternoster for the investigation that led to the arrest. In comments reported by Gazzetta di Modena, she said, “That man should stay in prison. To women, I say report it; trust the institutions.”
The judge is expected to rule on Nov. 2.
