Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Parents Stand Trial in Bologna Over Alleged Aggravated Maltreatment of HIV-Positive Daughter

Prosecutors say prolonged medical neglect left the child with advanced HIV by the time doctors intervened in 2023.

Overview

  • Proceedings focus on accusations that the parents concealed the mother's HIV status, avoided medical care and vaccinations, and chose a 2017 birth in Spain outside hospitals.
  • An advanced HIV infection was diagnosed at Bologna’s Maggiore hospital in 2023 after a pediatrician insisted on urgent admission and alerted the Carabinieri when the couple resisted.
  • The child spent about a year hospitalized in Bologna and at Meyer in Florence, and reports in court filings describe parental obstruction of treatment, including the father ingesting medicine intended for her.
  • A juvenile court appointed a guardian in September 2023, the guardian has joined the case as a civil party through lawyer Sabrina Di Giampietro, and judges are still assessing parental capacity.
  • Public prosecutor Nicola Scalabrini is leading the case, the next hearing is scheduled for 18 May 2026, the defendants are represented by Pasqualino Miraglia, and the child now lives in a group home with her mother and attends school.