Italy: Albenga-Imperia diocese priest's conviction for abusing an altar server stands, though the church later cleared him
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Material that narrows or disputes the record
Appellate history
2013
Court of Cassation confirmed the sentence definitively.
Record class
Core record
Evidence status
Convicted
Authority role
Catholic parish priest of San Vincenzo e San Giovanni, Alassio
Organization
Diocese of Albenga-Imperia
Archive classification
This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.
The victim was an altar server of the priest's own parish, whose access to and unchallengeable authority over the child arose directly from his priestly office.
- Pastoral or clerical authority
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2009-01-01 · conviction, final
Italian criminal courts through the Corte di Cassazione, Italy. Don Luciano Massaferro, parish priest of San Vincenzo e San Giovanni in Alassio, was convicted of sexually abusing a young altar server of his parish and sentenced to seven years and eight months' imprisonment, arrested on 29 December 2009. The Court of Cassation confirmed the sentence definitively in 2013, and he was released in early 2016 on good-conduct credit.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- parish priest's office and access to a child serving as altar server in his own parish
Cited record
Sources
- specialist advocacy press survey report Rete L'Abuso: Abusi sessuali del clero, in Liguria 69 casi in 25 anni: in 5 condannati in via definitiva.
Regional survey listing Massaferro among five definitively-convicted Liguria clergy, with sentence and timeline.
- national newspaper contrast disposition report Il Fatto Quotidiano: Alassio, prete condannato per pedofilia in via definitiva. Ma tribunale ecclesiastico lo assolve: "Innocente, celebri messa".
Reports the 2018 ecclesiastical tribunal's acquittal and reinstatement to public ministry, contrasted explicitly with the standing definitive criminal conviction.
Source provenance
Source access and integrity log
This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.
- Source and tier basis
- https://retelabuso.org/2025/11/04/abusi-sessuali-del-clero-in-liguria-69-casi-in-25-anni-in-5-condannati-in-via-definitiva/ Corpus classification: specialist-advocacy-press; evidentiary role: survey-report. SHA-256 578a15de7c9679a71711e04107c874fad2b9d6b2dcdefec36d1edd766c4fc0df
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
- Source and tier basis
- https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2018/02/27/alassio-prete-condannato-per-pedofilia-in-via-definitiva-ma-tribunale-ecclesiastico-lo-assolve-innocente-celebri-messa/ Corpus classification: national-newspaper; evidentiary role: contrast-disposition-report. SHA-256 020d7100bbd68c14d9910338a843d7fbd0628d5a0ca67f420250a699b47b7232
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
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Related record
Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts
- 2018 · Harrisburg, PA, USA PA grand jury: 301 priests, 1,000+ child victims documented ('weaponized' faith)
- 2009 · Dublin, Ireland Ryan Commission: abuse 'endemic' in Catholic-run institutions (state inquiry)
- 2021 · Paris, France CIASE/Sauvé Report: est. 216,000 abused by French clergy since 1950
- 2019 · Vatican City McCarrick: ex-cardinal found guilty by Vatican canonical process, laicized
- 2010 · Oregon City, OR, USA Beagley faith-healing death: parents convicted (criminally negligent homicide)
- 2014 · Philadelphia, PA, USA Schaible: 3rd-degree murder, second child dead of untreated pneumonia
- 2001 · London, UK Victoria Climbié: murder convictions; possession belief; Laming Inquiry followed
- 2012 · London, UK Kristy Bamu: kindoki 'deliverance' murder convictions (30/25-yr minimums)