Court of Macerata

She was not a virgin and knew what to expect, but in appeal overturned acquittal for rape

The 17-year-old girl had secluded herself at night with a stranger. He acquitted at first instance, now sentenced to 3 years on appeal

by Patrizia Maciocchi

21 October 2025

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A girl who agrees to seclude herself in a car with a stranger, late in the evening and in an isolated place, and to exchange effusions with him, must know what to expect. Especially if she has already hadrelationships, and is therefore 'in a position to imagine the possible developments of the situation'. With these motivations, the Court of Macerata had acquitted a 31-year-old man (25 at the time) of the charge of sexual violence against a 17-year-old Icelandic girl. A sentence annulled today by the Court of Appeal, which sentenced the boy to three years' imprisonment.

The girl, the lower court judges had written in the sentence overturned by the territorial court, had 'accepted her friend's proposal to go out for a foursome, in the company of two Italian boys, almost unknown to each other, and to withdraw late in the evening in a car in an isolated and dimly lit place'. There, her friend and the other boy had got out of the car, while she 'had remained in the company of the defendant, agreeing to sit in the back seat and there to exchange amorous effusions with him, without showing any opposition, despite the fact that it was clear to everyone that they had come to that place for that very purpose'. The injured party had then filed a complaint.

The young woman's afterthought

But even in this case, the judges of the first instance found a reason for the alleged change of heart, compared to the accepted initial approach. The judges recognised that the young woman 'may have suffered psychological consequences as a result of the relationship, which certainly did not take place according to her expectations and was perhaps too fleeting and tactless'. They also emphasised the absence of bruises, demonstrating a lack of defence, despite the cramped interior and the size of both the defendant and the offended person. And again, the defendant's defence's evocation of a 'fashion' for Nordic girls, like the alleged victim, to give themselves to strangers on first meeting.

The appeal against an anachronistic ruling

The appeal was appealed by the public prosecutor and the civil parties, assisted by the lawyer Fabio Maria Galiani, and today the Court of Appeal of Ancona annulled the acquittal. In the appeal, the lawyer challenged the Court's conclusion that the girl's availability for a foursome in a secluded place must necessarily imply that she was aware of what was going to happen. 'Such a perspective,' reads the defence document, 'recalls an anachronistic tendency to believe that a woman who wears a miniskirt in the evening must expect to be raped (almost as if to configure a guilt contest).

Pg's request to convict

The Ancona Public Prosecutor Cristina Polenzani had asked for the acquittal sentence to be overturned and for the defendant to be sentenced for sexual violence to the penalty requested at first instance (4 years and 1 month), or alternatively for a less serious offence with a sentence that could be reduced to within the limits of the suspended sentence.

The deputy prosecutor emphasised the 'precise and punctual' words of the girl, who had consented to 'effusions' and immediately stated that she did not want to go any further. 'In order not to incur violence,' recalled the prosecutor, 'there must be consent from the beginning to the end of the relationship: she had immediately stated her no', while 'the defendant had not voluntarily perceived the girl's will'. The young girl, recalled the prosecution and the civil plaintiff (lawyer Fabio Maria Galiani), got out of the car and immediately told her best friend that she had been hurt.

In the alternative to the conviction for sexual assault, the prosecution asked for the application of the last paragraph of Article 609 bis concerning minor sexual abuse, 'taking into account the circumstances and the age' of the young people involved. The plaintiff's lawyer also recalled the psychological support of about two years that the offended party, not present in court, had to undergo at the time. At that time, the young woman had tried to scream but had not succeeded, while the defendant had blocked her with a hand on her shoulder.

The defence lawyers of the defendant, who was present in court today, Mauro Riccioni and Bruno Mandrelli, instead asked for the confirmation of the acquittal: the trial is circumstantial, they reiterated, listing a series of circumstances and contradictions that, in their opinion, would demonstrate the non-credibility of the statements made by the girl, including the fact that she did not scream or call for help at the time of the incident and the absence of injuries found during the medical examinations before filing the complaint. After the events, the defence lawyers stressed, in the chat with a friend, their client used joking tones without having any knowledge of having committed abuse.

A law of consent

Dopo la sentenza del Tribunale, i parlamentari del Pd in commissione Femminicidio Cecilia D'Elia, vicepresidente; Sara Ferrari, capogruppo dem; Filippo Sensi; Valeria Valente; Antonella Forattini e Valentina Ghio, hanno invocato una legge sul consenso. «La sentenza choc del Tribunale di Macerata, che ha assolto in primo grado un giovane dallo stupro perché la ragazza non era vergine e quindi sapeva cosa l'aspettava sul sedile posteriore di un auto, conferma che in Italia c'é assoluto bisogno di una legge sul consenso. Chiediamo - scrivono in una nota i parlamentari - alla Commissione bicamerale di inchiesta sul femminicidio e al Parlamento tutto di schierarsi senza distinzione di colori politici e appartenenze su una battaglia per l'approvazione di un testo di civiltà per le donne».

The reactions

Sulla sentenza del Tribunale era intervenuta anche la ministra per la Famiglia, Natalità e Pari Opportunità Eugenia Roccella. «Come sempre non dò giudizi di natura giudiziaria o processuale sulle singole vicende, ma a me pare che ancora una volta, alla luce di alcune frasi contenute in questa sentenza, si ponga una questione di cultura e di consapevolezza che rende necessaria quella formazione degli operatori sulla quale, non a caso, stiamo lavorando molto a livello normativo e non solo. Entrambe le leggi promosse dal governo - aggiunge Roccella- prevedono attività di formazione specifica nei confronti delle professionalità che a vario titolo si occupano di violenza contro le donne e vi entrano a contatto. La legge sul reato di femminicidio, in particolare, prevede la formazione obbligatoria

For the minister, "it is not a question of judicial decisions, which have their own venues for discussion. Instead, it is a question of culture, of language, of argumentative path, of awareness".

The sit-in

"Let's make noise, let's not remain silent" TheWomen's Forum has promoted a sit-in to express solidarity with the girl offended in a sexual assault trial, for events in 2019 in the Macerata area, after the reasons for the acquittal were made known.

Il presidio si è svolto davanti alla Corte d'appello di Ancona per solidarietà e protesta, sottolineando che il presunto stupratore è stato assolto «perché hanno creduto a lui e non a lei e perché non ci si è basati sui fatti particolarmente evidenti». «Siamo qui con la nostra presenza - ha detto Eleonora Fontana della Cgil Marche - per manifestare con la nostra presenza l'inquietudine che abbiamo provato nel leggere la notizia della sentenza che interpretiamo come un abuso, un'ulteriore ingiustizia che avviene sulla pelle delle donne, di una minorenne al tempo dei fatti, che è stata stuprata - afferma - ma il suo aguzzino è stato considerato innocente». La corte d'Appello ha riformato quella sentenza.