Suspended Italian cop says sex with U.S. student was "consensual"

One of Italy's Carabinieri military police officer has admitted he had sex with an American student in Florence who reported him for rape, local media reported Sunday.

The officer said the sex was consensual. He and another officer from the Carabinieri military police have been suspended and are under investigation for the rape of two American students.

The two young women aged 19 and 21 reported the policemen for rape Wednesday night after they left a Florence night club called Flo.

Club management had called the police to quell an altercation between clients. The two young women, who were in a state of inebriation when they left the club, said they accepted a lift home from the two officers in uniform in their squad car.

The women said the officers raped them at the entrance and in the elevator of their building near the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the historic center of Florence, according to various Italian media reports.

The alleged victims underwent medical tests and forensics are studying the evidence collected from their clothes and at the scene, according to RAI public broadcaster.

As well, there are witnesses to the fact that the women got into the squad car. Security camera footage confirms their itinerary to the girls' flat, and also that a 20-minute interval occurred between when the squad car was seen arriving at and then leaving the women's building.

A lawyer for one of the alleged victims, Gabriele Zanobini, told Italian news agency ANSA that rape can also occur when the victim is unable to consent due to alcohol or drugs.

The two officers may also face charges of aggravating circumstances "when the act is committed with abuse of power or a violation of duties inherent to public office," Zanobini told ANSA.

"Once the investigation is over, our response will be severe, firm, and swift," Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti told RAI. "A Carabiniere officer in uniform must always be a synonym of security -- to think that someone can commit such serious acts while in uniform is really inconceivable," she said.

Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, has a high concentration of international university programs.