Ten social and health workers from the CEM Automotive Education Center in Rome, run by the Italian Red Cross, have been placed under house arrest as part of an investigation by the Carabinieri for torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence. The investigation began following a complaint filed by the leaders of the voluntary organization after a patient at the facility had visible bruises on his face, consistent with blows. According to the investigation, two patients suffering from serious psycho-physical pathologies were victims of abuse by the suspects. Five operators are accused of torture and the others of ill-treatment of people who depended on them for reasons of surveillance and custody. One of the people involved is also being investigated for sexual violence, as he is said to have assaulted a female patient at one point. “The manner of conduct, which the public prosecutor has adequately defined with a gallery of horrors, gives the measure of the character of each of the suspects,” writes the investigating judge in the order for the execution of the arrests, “who not only exercised constant and unprecedented violence on people totally incapable of reacting, but accompanied their unspeakable acts with words of derision, which stigmatize, through derision, the very mental deficits from which the offended persons seem to suffer.” The investigations were carried out from April to November 2023 by the carabinieri of via Selci, specialized in dealing with crimes against vulnerable victims, through technical activities, the acquisition of documents and testimonies.
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