Two fifteen- and sixteen-year-old girls returning home on a summer Friday evening faced a terrifying ordeal near Milan. Alone as their parents were still out, they entered their apartment building around 8 PM. A man followed them into the elevator. He waited until they opened the door to the apartment—where one girl lived and the other was staying—then threatened them with a screwdriver, confined them inside, and sexually assaulted them. Fearing the parents’ return, the assailant fled approximately an hour later, taking the girls’ mobile phones and jewellery found in the home.
One victim immediately called emergency services (112) using a landline. Carabinieri patrols from Sesto San Giovanni, led by Colonel Giuseppe Sacco, launched a search. Separately, the parents called authorities upon returning home. The suspect, a 40-year-old Italian man with prior convictions for resisting arrest and theft, was apprehended while wandering near the border with Cinisello Balsamo. He was found in possession of the stolen items, the screwdriver, electrical zip ties, and the girls’ phones, whose GPS signals aided his location. Intoxicated, he resisted arrest. He now faces charges of sexual violence, kidnapping, and robbery, and is detained in Monza prison pending prosecution.
Lombardy Regional Security Councillor Romano La Russa stated, “Commenting rationally on this episode is truly difficult, even more so for someone like me who is a father and grandfather. What I hope is that the judges will not hesitate to impose the maximum penalty for this barbaric crime.” The victims received support at a specialist center for women and minors affected by violence.
In an unrelated case under investigation by the Torre del Greco Carabinieri mobile unit and coordinated by Naples prosecutors, a 78-year-old man is accused of sexually molesting his six-year-old twin granddaughters when left in his care. The children reportedly disclosed the abuse to their aunt on multiple occasions. Evidence includes images recovered from the suspect’s phone’s trash folder, suggesting he tried to delete photos he took of the girls. He is charged with sexual violence and production of child pornography.
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