'Italy's Fritzl' arrested

Italian police say they have arrested a man for forcing his daughter to have sex with him for 25 years, prompting comparisons with the high-profile case of Austria's Josef Fritzl.

The 64-year-old junk dealer had allegedly raped his daughter, now 34, regularly since she was nine years old, deputy prosecutor Pietro Forno of the northern city of Turin told AFP.


'Italy's Fritzl' arrested

A man was arrested in Italy for allegedly sexually abusing his daughter over a 25 year period and encouraging his son to do the same.

He was arrested a few days ago, while his son, 41, has been in police custody since last month accused of raping his four daughters, Forno said.

Both the father and the son have strongly denied the allegations against them, the ANSA news agency reported.

Erroneous press reports, giving the older man's victim the pseudonym Laura, earlier said he had also imprisoned his daughter.

Austrian Josef Fritzl received a life sentence last week for the repeated rape of his daughter over 24 years during which he kept her in an underground hideaway and fathered seven children with her.

Forno said Laura "was strictly speaking free, though she did nothing without her father, who completely dominated her psychologically".

Laura was the eldest of 10 children, Forno said, adding that "according to a family rule, the eldest daughter was reserved" for the father, a native of southern Italy.

"The young woman is suffering from personality disorders because of the prolonged incestuous situation and mistreatment," he said.

"A psychiatric evaluation has determined that the situation was one of very serious distress."

Laura had a "totally passive personality before her father, who made her live in a climate of threats", Forno said, adding that she stayed in a dark room and had not been to school since she was 13 years old.

The mother was part of the household, which was home to three of the other children including one with a physical handicap.

"It appeared to be a normal family," Forno said, adding that no evidence of abuse towards the other children had emerged.

The father's other children, eight boys and a girl, defended him.

"My father never touched us. I kiss the ground where he passed," said the victim's sister, quoted by the Ansa news agency.

The father "passed his behaviour on to one of his sons", Forno said.

The son is accused of having raped and abused his four daughters, now aged six, 12, 17 and 21, and forcing them to watch the sex sessions.

The investigation began last October, when Laura lodged a complaint against her brother, accusing him of holding her prisoner and raping her for two weeks after she fled to his home following an argument with their father.

The probe involved phone taps on the family home and the use of electronic listening devices.

The five alleged victims are under psychological care at a shelter.

But wait, There's more!

Austrian incest father Josef Fritzl suspected of four murders


Josef Fritzl is likely to spend the rest of his life locked up in a psychiatric unit - but the full extent of his crimes may be yet to surface.


The depraved father, convicted yesterday after imprisoning his daughter, Elisabeth, for 24 years, is being investigated over at least four unsolved murders and disappearances.

A jury took only hours to find the 73-year-old guilty of rape, incest, deprivation of liberty, enslavement and murder by neglect over the death of his new-born son Michael in 1996.

Impassive, he accepted the verdict and said he would not be launching an appeal, bringing a swift end to a case that has shocked the world.

His life sentence means he cannot be freed for at least 15 years. He would then have to prove he no longer posed a danger to the public before being released.

Even as he was led away to serve his sentence, police were re-examining missing person and unsolved murder cases over the past four decades.

One is the 1986 murder of Martina Posch, 17, who was raped, strangled and dumped in a lake a short distance from where Fritzl and wife Rosemarie ran a guesthouse.

"What really stands out is that Martina looks similar to Fritzl's daughter. The likeness is incredible," police chief Alois Lissl said.

Other cases include the shotgun murder of Anna Neumayer, 17, near Fritzl's workplace in 1966 and the disappearance of Julia Kuehrer, 16, near his home in 2006.

The investigation also includes sex worker Gabriele Superkova, 20, was murdered and dumped in a lake near where Fritzl was holidaying in 2007.

Meanwhile, there is ongoing disbelief that Fritzl's wife, Rosemarie, knew nothing of the cellar although police insist she is an innocent party.

"What woman would stay silent if she knew her husband had seven children with his daughter and was holding her prisoner in the cellar?," police have said.

Rosemarie, like all of Elisabeth's siblings, refused to testify at Fritzl's trial.