Silvio Berlusconi sex conviction overturned

Italian former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won an appeal against his conviction for paying for sex with an underage prostitute, the BBC reported.

His seven-year prison sentence has now been thrown out by judges in Milan, in the so-called "Ruby" case.

Last year a court found that he had paid for sex with a 17-year-old nightclub dancer, Karima El-Mahroug, known as "Ruby the Heartstealer."

Berlusconi is doing community service after being sentenced for tax fraud.

That was a separate case involving his business empire Mediaset. Berlusconi, 77, helps out once a week at a home for people with Alzheimer's disease.

He began doing that service in May - and so far it is the only final judgment against him, despite various other court cases.

Berlusconi, a billionaire tycoon and veteran politician, was also acquitted of a charge that he abused his prime ministerial powers by pressuring the police to free Ms El-Mahroug when she was in custody.

In another separate case he is accused of having bribed a senator.

As a result of the conviction over Mediaset he was banned from holding political office for two years and expelled from the Senate.