Priest must pay €700,000 over alleged child abuse

ITALY
The Local

An Italian court has ordered a priest and his parish to pay €700,000 compensation after he allegedly spent years sexually abusing a girl. The ruling has been hailed as a first of its kind in Italy by the family’s lawyer.

Despite being let off the criminal charges in 2009, a civil court in the northern city of Bolzano has ordered Giorgio Carli to pay out for the alleged abuse.

The civil court was able to make the ruling as it operates separately to the criminal court system.

The Bolzano court relied heavily on the victim’s testimony of abuse, which occured from the age of nine to 14, Il Messaggero said.

Carli has always professed his innocence, but he and the diocese have now been ordered to pay €500,000 to his victim and €100,000 to each of her parents.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.