At least 11 men in northern Italy were arrested Thursday for their alleged connection to a child prostitution ring, including a priest, a soccer coach, a policeman, and an HIV-positive man, as Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports.
At least four boys between 16 and 17 years old were targeted by the men via social media outlets and offered money and gifts in exchange for sex. The encounters occurred in vehicles in shopping mall parking lots, theaters, and in the homes of some of the suspects, according to according to NewsX.
The arrests in Italy's Brescia, Bergamo, Milan, Monza, Brianza and Parma provinces come after a six-month investigation in Italy, spearheaded by detectives in Brescia. Authorities were alerted to the situation when the mother of one of the targeted boys discovered suspicious text messages on her son's cell phone, reports the Bergamo Post.
The initial intention of the teenagers involved was to receive prepayment for sexual favors and then run away, but the investigators have uncovered evidence of at least 100 encounters since 2014, according to a police report outlined by the Bergamo Post.
Among the accused are Claudio Tonoli, 56, HIV-positive, who had been arrested recently for allegedly soliciting unprotected intercourse, according to the Giornale di Brescia. Diego Rota, 45, held the position of parish priest in the village of Solza near the city of Bergamo.
"The serious charges which Don Rota is accused of have caused amazement, dismay and profound pain to the bishop and our whole community," Giulio Dellavite, Secretary General of the Bergamo diocese, said, reports Agence France-Presse.
