She declares herself a “champion of betrayed women,” a “virtual avenger of betrayal,” but more than Wonder Woman she acts like the Joker. A 60-year-old man from Lombardy was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months by a Prato court last October 24 because he made pursuing extramarital affairs his personal moral belief. An obsessive, dangerous and real mission that spans years between fake profiles, stalking and toxic messages. But justice confronts revenge porn, defamation, stalking, and impersonation. The crime for which he was sentenced, along with his son – now thirty years old – an accomplice and, in any case, under the control of his mother: he was sentenced to one year and four months.
STORY
It all started between December 2019 and September 2020, with full lockdown. The “avenger” identified his prey: an ordinary thirty-year-old boy from Prato, chosen for no reason. Nothing wrong, nothing to do with it, just a pathological desire to “expose” unfaithful men, real or alleged. He contacted her on Instagram from a profile created with obsessive attention: an attractive young girl, with a well-kept physique and a completely invisible face. A stolen identity, built together with his son. The first contact came from a simple friend request. He received and exchanged several messages. He was sincere: he said he was engaged. She, or rather the woman pretending to be her, started again with an increasingly intimate conversation. Within a few weeks the tone became erotic, the photos became more personal, more explicit, they engaged in sexting. But something went wrong: the “girl” wouldn’t talk on the phone, canceled meetings at the last minute, disappeared and reappeared. The man then realized after a few weeks that it was a catfish, a fake profile. He blocked everything and cut off all contact in January, both with that account and another account, where he always hid. Same message, same sentence. All copied and pasted.
However, for the “champion”, it didn’t end there. Wounded by his pride and omnipotent delirium about where to get the pair to leave at any cost, he decides to attack. He collected chats, photos, screenshots and created a real embarrassment dossier. First he wrote letters to his girlfriend, then to his parents, friends, colleagues. Widespread persecution. When the couple, despite everything, chooses to stay together and try to repair their relationship – even leaving for Paris to see each other – the woman goes crazy. During the trip, a registered letter arrived at his girlfriend’s place of work: it contained all the evidence of betrayal from photographs to individually printed messages. That’s where the outrage starts: new fake profiles, new identities, other messages. Anger grew, his tone became venomous. Photos of the pair appeared on social media, taken secretly during the stalking, complete with defamatory and humiliating captions. Her boyfriend explained: «He started abusing me in every way. He wrote “Doll bro”, or “You are a doormat”, to comments like “Dead cat” or “But how do you dress, you are careless, maybe he is really cheating on you?”». Then he added, in a firm voice: “I don’t know why he did that, but he ruined our lives.”
CHAT
The transition from the virtual world to the real world is very fast. Mother and son began stalking the couple on the streets of Prato and Florence, staying at hotels. They follow them in bars, on their way home from work, taking photos and recording videos. “Observed, spied on by someone faceless, they didn’t know who to look out for,” said the lawyer for the two victims, Pia Pacini and Federica Palanghi. Until his girlfriend found herself face to face with him and his son, at the same bar where he had breakfast. Hence the complaint against an unknown person. The postal police then launched a very intense investigation: going through IP addresses, telephone numbers, messages on social media, until they traced the two back to Lombardy. The trial lasted five years. At this time the woman never spoke. There was never an explanation, never a word of repentance. From the chats and posts only comes the delirium of the Crusades. «He didn’t do it for money – the lawyers explained –, there was no solicitation or blackmail». He just wanted them to break up, so everyone would know that they were a fake couple.
But fears have increased in recent years. The two young people have changed their habits, they avoid leaving the house, they live in constant anxiety about being followed. On October 24, the Prato court finally handed down the sentence: guilty. Both mother and child. For him, all the accusations remain – revenge porn, defamation, stalking, impersonation – for him only the last two. Six years after the incident, the woman still lives in Lombardy. There were no other formal complaints, but there was no shortage of reports. It is likely not the first time she has sought revenge on an unfaithful man “but our client was the only one who had the courage to take her to court” admitted the lawyers. But today, the couple is no longer together. He couldn’t resist the long wave of humiliation, exposure, fear.
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