Italian Tourist Arrested in Rio de Janeiro
Italian tourist arrested in Rio for kissing daughter
An Italian tourist arrested in Brazil after being accused of publicly molesting his eight-year-old daughter has been put under police guard in hospital after falling ill when a judge rejected his plea for bail.
The 48-year-old entrepreneur, who has not been named, was arrested last Tuesday at a seaside resort in the north-eastern city of Fortaleza after bystanders told police he had been seen kissing and "caressing" the girl.
However, Ivana Timbó, a superintendent in the city's taskforce combatting child sex tourism, said nothing in the daughter's initial statement suggested that she had been molested.
If convicted, the tourist, from Guidonia, near Rome, could face a long spell in prison. New Brazilian laws, intended to crack down on child sex tourism, define "libidinous acts" with children under the age of 14 as rape, punishable with sentences of eight to 15 years.
The Italian was rushed to hospital with high blood pressure on Sunday after a judge ruled he should remain in custody until police finished their initial investigation. Police are due to hear three further witnesses today.
"It was not a father-daughter situation," one witness told the television channel TV Verdes Mares, saying the man had touched his daughter in a "hot" manner.
The girl's Brazilian mother, who reportedly met her husband 11 years ago while working as a waiter in Italy, denied any abuse. "If something untoward had been going on, I would be on the side of my daughter," she told the government news agency Agencia Brasil.
In an interview with local television she added: "I think they got confused, they misunderstood it. With so many cases of sexual abuses, they saw a white, foreign man with a much darker [skinned] girl. They didn't try and inform themselves or find out who was who. They immediately thought it was a foreigner trying to pick up an eight-year-old girl." She blamed the accusations on "prejudice".
Located in the impoverished north-eastern state of Ceará, Fortaleza, a seaside city of 2.4 million inhabitants, is a popular destination for European tourists and a notorious centre for sex tourism. Blessed with some of South America's most beautiful beaches, Ceará is also one of the most deprived parts of Brazil, with one of the lowest development indexes in the country. Activists say thousands of European men go there each year in search of cheap sex, sometimes with minors, who use the money to support their families.
Several European tour companies operate websites where visitors can fill in online forms "ordering" girls with whom they want to spend their holidays.
A 2002 study of sex tourism in the region found that 78% of foreign visitors to Fortaleza were male, and 32% of cities in north-east Brazil had child prostitution networks, the highest rate in the country.
Before being taken to hospital the Italian tourist, who was due to fly back to Italy last week, was reportedly being held in a cramped cell containing a mattress and a fan brought in by his family.
Timbó said the initial inquiry should be completed by Thursday.
Comments
Ok, does anybody actually KNOW how this father was kissing his daughter? Was there mouth to mouth contact? Was it a peck on the cheek? Obviously a fathers love is shown in many ways, but even the fact that this has to be reputed is worrying in itself...
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How could you possibly mistake the way a father kisses his daughter with the way a molester kisses his prey??
Surely there is a massive difference between the two?
I dont understand how this could even be used as a defence. Its disgusting...
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If this is a mistake, it was sad.Find more gov articles
It is a sad story what happened
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I agree with Samuel too, it completely depends of the way of kissing between this father and his daughter. But he can't be arrested for that! ventes privees
I agree with Samuel on this score. If there were camera's around then they would take a closer look at how the dad kissed the daughter, probably what happened was a normal thing to both people.
These are the very people that allowed the sex trade to flourish and probably the ones that made lots of money on it.
I have seen many drug dealers turn on the competition and report them to the police as well as pimps reporting hookers not working for them.
Could the report be the result of business envy when someone thought their teritory was being invaded?
Yet another reason to vote with our wallets and avoid countries that cheat tourists.
This is the trouble with prejudice. When something happens people use it as an excuse and it just isn't right. There are obvious differences between the way a father kisses his child and the way a molester does. Casino En Ligne
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