Ex-Town keeper Matteo Sereni has protested his innocence having been sentenced to three and a half years in prison and the loss of paternal authority after being convicted of child abuse in his native Italy.

In 2009, during an acrimonious divorce and custody battle, Sereni’s ex-wife accused the keeper of abusing their daughter, reports Football Italia, with the ex-Italian U21 and U23 international always maintaining his innocence.

“I am distraught,” the 40-year-old told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I have lost all faith in justice. The only thing that keeps me alive is realising my children know the truth.”

Sereni’s legal representatives, Michele Galasso, Giacomo Francini and Giampaolo Murrighile, added: “We will certainly appeal this very surprising sentence. Even the little girl, whose testimony was recorded many times by her mother, later admitted the accusations against her father were not true.”

Under Italian law, a conviction is not treated as final until it has been through three courts, with the case having two levels of appeal remaining.

Sereni was signed from Sampdoria for a club record £4.5 million in the summer of 2001 and went on to make 33 appearances during 2001/02. After relegation, he joined Brescia on loan before moving on to Lazio on a permanent basis in the summer of 2003.

The keeper retired from playing in 2011 following a second spell with Brescia.

Photo: Action Images

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