Berlusconi to face charge he paid underage girl for sex

AN ITALIAN judge has ordered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial in April on a charge that he paid an underage girl for sex, though there seemed no immediate risk the scandal would force him from office.

Following weeks of scandal that have shaken his struggling centre-right government, trial was set to start in a criminal court in Milan on April 6, according to a statement from the office of the city’s chief judge, Christina Di Censo.

Berlusconi is not obliged to appear in person before the panel of three female judges on that day, nor is there any legal obstacle to his continuing to hold office throughout any trial proceedings, which could take years before any conviction.