BARI - Ten people were arrested in Bari, Rome, Trani and Lecce for having "induced, favoured, exploited, managed and organized the prostitution of three underage girls" police said.

 In the early hours of the morning, an operation coordinated by the Mobile Team of the Police Headquarters in Bari led to the execution of precautionary measures against four women and six men, accused of exploitation of child prostitution.

 Among those arrested, four women aged 21-35 and two men aged 25-29 were put in prison. They are accused of having induced, favored, exploited, managed, and organized the prostitution of three underage girls, making a considerable profit from their sexual services offered to multiple customers.  

 Two customers aware of the minority of the girls were placed under house arrest, while a third client was ordered to stay in their municipality of residence. A manager of a tourist accommodation which tolerated the usual practice of prostitution received the same precautionary measure.

 For a third 55-year-old customer the obligation to stay in the municipality of residence. The same precautionary measure was ordered against a 45-year-old from Bari, who was the manager of an accommodation facility where he tolerated the usual practice of prostitution.

 The investigation was initiated by the Mobile Team of Bari, in March 2022, following the complaint lodged by the mother of a 16-year-old, who noticed abnormal behavior in her daughter and found her going out with an adult, described by the public voice as an operative escort in the Marche region.

 Stalking, wiretapping, multiple hearings, including those of children involved in prostitution, carried out with the help of psychologists, allowed the acquisition of the investigative elements that led to the police operation carried out this morning. The facts have been consumed in some accommodations, even luxury ones, in the provinces of Bari and BAT, starting from October 2021.

 Minors aged 16 were compelled to enter the world of prostitution with the promise of easy money. It is rumored that some customers have paid hundreds of euros for individual sexual services.

 " The money earned from prostitution was used by girls to buy clothes, bags and dine in expensive restaurants," the investigators explained.

 For the management of the activity were used dedicated telephone utilities, included in special online ads. Other people took care of booking accommodation facilities and accompanying girls to their rooms, and there were also those who received phone calls from customers and set up appointments.

 The exploiter was believed to be waiting in adjoining rooms for minors to complete their services, then personally collecting money from customers and paying the girls their share (50% of the sum).

 The procedure is currently being investigated and the precautionary measure will be executed after the guarantee interrogates and compares the defense of suspects, whose possible guilt in relation to the alleged crimes must be determined at trial due to the contradictory dispute between the parties.

jdc