Italy
The age of consent in Italy is 14 years, with a close-in-age exception that allows those aged 13 to engage in sexual activity with partners who are less than 3 years older. The age of consent rises to 16 if one of the participants has some kind of influence on the other (e.g. teacher, tutor, adoptive parent, priest). Not knowing the fact that the victim is underage is not a legal defence. If the minor involved is under the age of 10, the crime can be punished even without a plaintiff and the punishment is aggravated. It is also illegal to perform sexual acts in the presence of a minor aged less than 14 with the intent of allowing the minor to witness the acts, even if they do not take an active part.
See also related Wikisource articles from the Italian Criminal Code (in Italian). See also more related articles from Interpol website (in French).
Read more about this topic: Ages Of Consent In Europe
Famous quotes containing the word italy:
“Everything in Italy that is particularly elegant and grand ... borders upon insanity and absurdity—or at least is reminiscent of childhood.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed—they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock!”
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—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)