Former Priest Charged with Sex Abuse of Children in Sicily

Gazzetta Del Sud
June 26, 2013

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/51817/Former-priest-charged-with-sex-abuse-of-children-in-Sicily.html


Sciacca, June 26 - A former priest was charged Wednesday with committing sexual acts with minors and is expected to appear in court next month. Davide Mordino, 42, the former pastor of the Basilica of Saint Calogero in Sciacca, a town on the southwest coast of Sicily, is under house arrest until his court appearance July 17. Police say the former priest performed sexual acts with four boys, while two others say he tried to assault them as well. Mordino, who left the basilica just before Christmas in 2009, is accused of having induced minors to pose naked for photos. The arrest comes a day after police in Rome announced they were investigating reports of a sexual-abuse and prostitution ring involving minors and operating out of local churches. Police said that no priests were under investigation in Rome, but a police officer is accused of organizing the ring. A teacher and lay officials at some churches in the capital are being investigated. Authorities say that boys, many foreign-born and recruited around Rome's main Termini railway station, worked as prostitutes inside the churches.