Don Vito Martinelli, priest arrested for sexual abuse: he used Telegram for harassment

Don Vito Martinelli, the former parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in Corato (Bari), who ended up under house arrest last 10 October on charges of aggravated and continuous sexual violence, reiterated his innocence before the judge for preliminary investigations of the Court of Trani, Domenico Zeno. This morning the guarantee interrogation took place during which the priest made spontaneous statements. "We chose, as a line of defence, for him to issue spontaneous statements. During the interrogation he firmly affirmed his innocence and the unfoundedness of the accusations made against him", lawyers Rinaldo Alvisi and Salvatore D'Aluiso told AGI.

The investigations

According to the accusatory reconstruction, the priest took advantage of his role as spiritual guide and of the relationship of trust established with a young man to force him to undergo sexual acts. The conduct contested in the precautionary order concerns the period between November 2024 and October 2025. The investigations were conducted by the Bari Flying Squad and coordinated by the Trani Prosecutor's Office.

Yesterday the public prosecutor Francesco Chiechi requested the evidentiary hearing. "We anxiously await - added the priest's defenders - the date of the evidentiary incident to listen to the offended person and fully carry out our defensive line".

What is written in the precautionary custody order

The precautionary custody order specifies that the abuse began in 2022, during trips from Corato to Acquaviva delle Fonti, in the province of Bari. When asked by the young man whether some acts constituted a sin, the priest replied no, then inviting him to consult a psychologist to bring out "his latent homosexuality". Then, simulating intimate approaches, he began to touch him. Since then, similar acts would have been repeated on several occasions over the years, including in the sacristy and in the premises of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Corato.

The boy had met the priest during the period of preparation for confirmation and saw Martinelli as his "spiritual father" (we read in the documents), as the young man had also decided to enter the seminary and become a priest. For the Trani investigators, the victim's story is coherent and flawless, with serious evidence against the priest whose conduct was deemed "serial and not occasional". The investigating judge also noted the risks of repetition of the crime and pollution of evidence.

Martinelli, a high school religion teacher, continued to follow the young man on his path to entering the seminary. In November 2025, after the priest's transfer to another church, the boy told the new parish priest what had happened and the two, we read in the documents, informed the bishop of Trani of the matter.

The use of Telegram

According to what Il Corriere della Sera reports, the priest would have asked the boy in question and also another victim to use the Telegram app, which allows the self-destruction of messages.

The suspension

The Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie immediately after the arrest had expressed in a note "profound pain and dismay at the disputed facts" to Don Vito Martinelli, explaining that Archbishop Leonardo D'Ascenzo, who on 25 November 2025 had "started the preliminary investigation into the actions of the Priest", had "already ordered the immediate suspension of the suspect from all pastoral duties, pending the judicial process takes its course." Monsignor D'Ascenzo, "on behalf of the entire diocesan community, expresses closeness and solidarity to the alleged victim and his family".

The Archdiocese had affirmed "its full trust in the work of the Judiciary and the Police Force, offering its collaboration for the rapid and complete ascertainment of the truth of the facts" and reiterated "its firm commitment to zero tolerance against any form of abuse, continuing to work to ensure that parishes and pastoral centers are safe places".