Italian court clears three men accused of raping a British student, 18, who claimed to have been attacked twice on the same night – including once by a ‘bogus rescuer’ – in Naples in 2018
- Three Italian men accused of raping a British au pair in Naples were acquitted
- The exchange student was 18 at the time of the alleged incidents in March 2018
- She claimed she was raped by two men on the way home from a university party
- The accuser then said a third man she approached for help also raped her
- But the three defendants were cleared of all charges last month, with the judge stating there was ‘no case to answer’
Three Italian men who were accused of rape by a British au pair in Naples have been cleared of all charges.
The woman, who was just 18 at the time of the alleged incidents, said she was raped three times by three different men as she attempted to make her way home from a party in the southern Italian city’s historic centre in March 2018.
She claimed she was offered a lift home from the Erasmus party close to the University of Naples by two men, who instead drove her to a secluded alleyway near Via Mezzocannone before sexually assaulting her.
Then a third man, who the au pair approached for help following the incident, allegedly told her ‘it’s my turn now’ and also chose to rape her instead of alerting the authorities.
But Judge Tullio Morello last month acquitted two men of gang rape charges and the third man of a rape charge because ‘there was no case to answer’.
The court found the accuser had been drinking heavily at the time and decided any sex that took place was consensual.
The British au pair claimed she was offered a lift home from a Erasmus party close to the University of Naples by two men, who instead drove her to a secluded alleyway near Via Mezzocannone (pictured) before sexually assaulting her
The woman, who was just 18 at the time of the alleged incidents, said she was raped three times by three different men as she attempted to make her way home from an Erasmus party close to the university in Naples (pictured)
The woman, who is now aged 22, first brought the case to Italian police in July 2018, roughly four months after the alleged rapes took place.
A special investigative hearing was set up in Naples’ city centre to hear her case, where she alleged her ‘bogus rescuer’ also raped her moments after she had been sexually assaulted by two men in a secluded spot close to the university.
The accuser was working as an au pair and was in Naples on a student exchange programme.
All three defendants, who are of the same age as their accuser, insisted the sex was consensual and pleaded not guilty to charges of group sexual violence and rape.
Police identified the men through CCTV footage and phone records in the weeks and months following the accuser’s decision to bring her case forward.
The accuser was working as an au pair and was in Naples (pictured) on a student exchange programme
Prosecutor Francesca Falconi, who oversaw the investigations according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, demanded that the two men accused of gang rape were each given a prison sentence of 5 years and 4 months, though she accepted the third man would be acquitted.
But the judge ultimately acquitted all three defendants of all of their charges, citing minimal evidence.
The court chose not to name any of the defendants or their accuser given the nature of the case.
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