Skip navigation! Story from TV Shows. Earlier this year, the soapy Netflix drama Elite swept us into a world of a Spanish private school where three scholarship students disrupt the social balance. The major difference between Baby and Elite , aside from setting and language? Baby is loosely based on real — and really scandalous — events that occurred in Rome in and In Baby , two high-schoolers in the posh Paroli district of Rome begin working as sex workers. Seemingly, Chiara Benedetta Porcaroli and Ludovica Alice Pagani are drawn to this underworld from a sense of ennui, as well as the desire for sexual freedom and financial independence.
The real events that inspired Baby are similar, if not more extreme. In , a year-old and year-old from the Paroli district of Rome were found at the center of a prostitution ring. In news coverage, the girls were referred to by the fake names Angela the older girl and Agnese the younger. They had been friends since middle school. The younger girl, Agnese, is the daughter of a single mother who had been struggling financially.
She's Ludovica in the show. They followed an ad, which led them to their future pimps: Mirko Ieni and army official Nunzio Pizzacalla. Soon, they set up a two-bedroom apartment on Viale Paroli, where the girls met clients after school. The girls began spending their earnings on mobile phones, designer clothing, and makeup. They were making an estimated euros a day; Ieni took a cut of the earnings. According to Italian Insider , she was sentenced to six years in prison and stripped of parental rights.
Prostitution is legal in Italy , though paying for sex with a minor under 18 is illegal. Police believe the clients were well aware Agnese and Angela were both under the age of In , police had gathered a list of at least 50 clients, including lawyers, politicians, UN staff members, bankers, butchers, and businessmen.
They also had proof of the sordid text messages clients exchanged with the girls. Floriani, along with other clients, were found guilty. As of June , 11 clients had received one-year prison sentences and fines. Ieni was sentenced to 10 years in prison; Pizzacalla to seven. The baby squillo scandal has inspired other works. The novel Professione Lolita by Daniele Autieri follows a group of teenagers in Paroli who get involved with prostitution and the Roman underworld.
