A Cartagena judge Wednesday sentenced Italian national Paolo Pravisani to fifteen years in jail for the crimes of solicitation of prostitution, possession of child pornography and sex with a minor.
The Italian is the first foreign pedophile sentenced in Colombia.
Pravisani was found guilty in July but his sentencing was delayed for a month. The Italian was sentenced alongside Colombians Hilda Martinez and Angelica Tovar, who each received ten years jail for aiding and abetting Pravisani in his crimes.
The Italian was arrested in March 2009, after a 14-year-old boy died in his apartment on February 23, 2009, of a cocaine overdose. Following his arrest, a police investigation found numerous pornographic photos involving minors.
In June a Swiss NGO complained about the numerous delays in Pravisani’s trial and said it would demand international intervention if the Italian were not brought to justice soon.
The trial of Pravisani had been postponed a total of six times, and the lawyer for family members of the deceased complained that the whole process was “becoming a circus,” and that the defense was abusing the legal system to prolong the process and avoid justice.
For eighteen months, Pravisani’s lawyers kept the trial from starting on medical grounds.
The deceased minor’s mother said she thought the sentence was too short and that she had hoped Pravisani would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The victims’ lawyer Freddy del Toro said that the important thing is that a historic precedent has been set.
The Italian remains in Cartagena’s Ternera jail, where he has been held since he was found guilty. He will also go on trial for homicide.
