(Sept. 7) - Italian diplomats are trying to secure the release of an Italian businessman who was arrested in Brazil after he was seen kissing his 8-year-old daughter in public.
The 48-year-old man was arrested Sept. 2 and could face eight to 15 years in prison if convicted under a tough new law designed to crack down on child abuse, BBC News reported Monday.
The man was reported to police by an elderly Brazilian couple who said they saw him kissing the girl on the mouth in a swimming pool near the beach in the coastal city of Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil.
The man's Brazilian wife says the whole thing is just a misunderstanding and that the witnesses jumped to the wrong conclusion after seeing a white foreigner with a darker-skinned child.
Northeastern Brazil has been plagued for years by pedophiles, many of them foreign, traveling to the area for sex with youngsters. The new law was enacted in an attempt to stamp out child prostitution.
The man has remained under arrest although his daughter said nothing improper happened, the Daily Telegraph reported.
It quoted the Italian newspaper La Repubblica as reporting that a lawyer for the Italian consulate said that arrest was a case of overzealousness on the part of local police. The consulate was collecting statements testifying to the good character of the businessman.
The man's name was not released but the Telegraph said he is from Guidonia, near Rome. He and his wife and family reportedly have been spending their summers in Fortaleza for several years.