Overview

• The Corte di Cassazione on September 15 upheld a Venice appeals court conviction of a father who repeatedly demeaned his 11‑year‑old daughter’s appearance.
• Judges found that remarks made from January to July 2020 created a degrading living condition for the child, who was then assaulted by her father on July 28, 2020.
• Testimony from the mother, the father’s sister and a social‑services report corroborated a pattern of contempt tied to the girl’s physical characteristics.
• The court rejected the defense claim of limited pandemic‑era contact, stressing the decisive weight of a parent’s judgments on a child in a developmental phase.
• The decision aligns with a broader legal trend, including a 2024 Verona case that imposed a four‑year‑four‑month sentence for humiliations and coercive fasting of an eight‑year‑old.