'Italian Fritzl' and his son accused of raping and controlling daughters

Italian police have uncovered an alleged case of sexual abuse to rival the horrors perpetrated by Josef Fritzl in Austria after a man and his son were accused of the serial rape of their daughters.

By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 8:49PM GMT 27 Mar 2009

Michele Mongelli, 63, has been accused of controlling his daughter from the age of nine and raping her over a period of 25 years. At some point he was alleged to have permitted his son, Giuseppe Mongelli, 40, to participate in the attacks and the son later abused all four of his own daughters.

Police claimed that the elder Mr Mongelli, a scrap metal dealer, encouraged his 40-year-old son to have sexual intercourse with the four daughters, who ranged in age from six to 20. The older man is alleged to have abused one of his two daughters. But the other daughter, now 30, has leapt to his defence. "My father never laid a finger on us," she said. "I kiss the ground on which he walks."

The alleged victim, who is now 34 and has been given the pseudonym of Laura in the Italian press, was reported to have been raped on a regular basis.

Pietro Forno, the Turin deputy prosecutor, said she "was strictly speaking free, though she did nothing without her father, who completely dominated her psychologically". Police said she had stopped going to school at age 13.

The woman was reported to have told police of the abuse but her father convinced them that she was "disturbed" and she remained in his care.

The Italian media drew parallels with the case of Fritzl, the Austrian who was sentenced to life last week for enslaving and raping his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children.

The younger Mr Mongelli, who has nine brothers and sisters, has been accused of raping and mistreating his four daughters and forcing them to watch the alleged abuse. Prosecutors said the two men subdued the women and girls in the family with a "psychological reign of terror".

The two men, who were in custody, denied the charges.

"My client is incredulous and cannot explain the reason for these accusations," said the father's lawyer, Antonio Genovese. "He absolutely denies them. He is unwell and diabetic, so much so that when he was arrested he had to be taken first to hospital."

The younger Mongelli's lawyer said: "My client denies all the accusations and I believe in his innocence."

The five victims are under psychological care at a shelter.

Other male members of the family also rallied around the two accused. "Everything that has been said about our father is a lie," said one of his eight sons, named as Michele.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5063150/Italian-Fritzl-and-his-son-accused-of-raping-and-controlling-daughters.html