Pietro Loffredo was hospitalized in Lanciano after suffering a serious illness, according to a report in Il Mattino.
According to statements attributed to his lawyers, Loffredo became ill after seeing his youngest child with a visible hematoma during a stay at an anti-violence centre. The lawyers said he had not been informed about the injury beforehand.
The report says three children had been removed from their parents in Lanciano in September and placed in care.
Legal challenge and request for meetings
Loffredo's lawyers have asked the ministers responsible for family, justice and health to meet with them.
The defence has challenged the removal order before the Court of Appeal of L'Aquila. According to the report, the appeal contests the grounds for the measure, the assessment of family alternatives, the absence of an end date and the lack of a minimum schedule for meetings between parents and children.
The merits hearing was reported as scheduled for 19 January 2027.
What remains unverified
The claims about the removal, the child's hematoma and the legal objections were presented through the family's lawyers. The article does not independently establish the underlying allegations.
The report does not provide an independent medical account of the child's injury or of Loffredo's health condition, nor does it reproduce the judicial decision behind the removal or the evidence relied upon by the authorities. It also does not establish whether the Court of Appeal has since changed, confirmed or suspended the measure.
