00Oct12c Old article

Last year, I gathered some old magazines that were thrown out of the building across the street, when it was being renovated, and I've been reading them. In one of them, 'Vendetta' (a popular magazine aimed at average people containing stories, (serious) gossip about singers, theater news, recipes, etc) I found an interesting article which I'm translating: the date is 28-04-76.

Countess in jail for loving... minors

Two boys from Naples, Almerigo and Mario, aged 12 and 11 respectively, thought that what had happened to them was a tender secret that they should keep deep in their hearts, although at the same time, they were dying to cry it out to the whole world... Of course, eventually, they couldn't resist the temptation to tell their classmates, so as to prove that in spite of their tender age, they had already become 'men'. That is, they had made love with a woman. And some woman! A beautiful lady, aged 30, married and moreover, a countess!

But let's start from the beginning. One day, as they were walking out of their school, Almerigo and Mario saw a beautiful lady sitting in her car, which was parked across the street. She was Countess Maria Rosa Carazzolo di Torquiarolo. The little boys went near the car to have a closer look at it, because it was a new sports car, and the countess chatted them up. Then she invited them in and took them for a ride. However, the 'ride' ended up in a hotel in the outskirts of Naples, and the countess invited the boys into her room, so that they would help her carry up her shopping bags, which were in the car. However, it seems that the countess didn't restrict herself to inviting the children into her room, but also invited them into her... bed. Of course, Almerigo and Mario were thrilled! They stayed with the countess for many hours, during which they were initiated in all the ...mysteries of lovemaking by an experienced woman, who knew all the relevant games.

Almerigo and Mario didn't see the countess again, but they were very excited by their adventure. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep their mouth shut. They told the 'secret' to their classmates and the event got eventually to the principle's ears, who summoned their parents. Inexplicably, the parents, instead of putting an end to the case with a couple of slaps, they went to the District Attorney and filed a suit for seduction of minors!

The trial took place a few weeks ago in Naples. Maria Rosa Carazzolo di Torquiarolo was tried in absentia, because she has disappeared and no-one knows her whereabouts. The court was unmerciful. The countess was convicted to two years in jail.

Comment: I wonder if, instead of a countess, it had been a count, the journalist would still have thought that the parents should have put an end to the case with a couple of slaps! Hardly! He/she would have called him a 'pervert', an 'abnormal' or a 'homosexual' who raped small boys! My point is that in Greece, in the 70ies, the public opinion wasn't so much against pedophilia, as against homosexuality. What about today? Well, adult homosexuality is more acceptable, but male homosexual pedophilia is as condemnable as in the 70ies. I also doubt that the journalist would have dared to speak so positively about the countess' act, had it occurred today.

Isabel