Italy 's highest court has confirmed an acquittal for former Prime Minister Silvio . Berlusconi on charges of abuse of office and paying for sex with . a minor , giving him a boost as he tries to hold on to his . role as a conservative leader . At the first trial in 2013 , Berlusconi , 78 , was convicted . and sentenced to seven years in prison . But that ruling was . overturned by an appeals court in Milan that acquitted him last . year . The Rome court , in a ruling that is now definitive , rejected . an appeal by Milan prosecutors to overturn the acquittal and to . hold a new trial . Italy 's highest court has confirmed an acquittal for former Prime Minister SilvioBerlusconi on charges of abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor . Berlusconi was accused of paying for sex with former teenage nightclub dancer Kharima El Mahroug , known by her stage name'Ruby the Heartstealer ' ( pictured ) Berlusconi was accused of paying for sex with former teenage . nightclub dancer Kharima El Mahroug , known by her stage name . 'Ruby the Heartstealer ' , during 'bunga bunga ' erotic parties at . his palatial home near Milan when he was prime minister in 2010 . He was also charged with abusing his authority to get El . Mahroug , who was 17 at the time , released from police custody . over unrelated theft accusations . The trial was the most sensational Berlusconi faced . It . mesmerised Italy with its lurid accounts of sex parties . A. stream of would-be starlets on his TV channels took the stand as . witnesses . Tuesday 's ruling came at a time when the conservative leader . is struggling to hold together his Forza Italia party and . maintain a front-line role in Italian politics . Berlusconi was also charged with abusing his authority to get El Mahroug , who was 17 at the time , released from police custody over theft accusations . Last month Berlusconi pulled out of a pact with Prime . Minister Renzi over reform of Italy 's voting system and . political apparatus , complaining that Renzi had excluded him . from the choice of who should become the new head of state . On Tuesday Forza Italia voted against Renzi 's political . reforms in the Chamber of Deputies , but 18 party deputies wrote . a public letter of dissent . They lamented a lack of internal . party democracy and said they had only obeyed Berlusconi 's . instructions out of loyalty to their leader . Forza Italia has steadily lost support since Berlusconi was . convicted for tax fraud in 2013 . As a result of that sentence he . lost his seat in the Senate and was barred from holding any . public office . According to most polls the party now has only 13 to 14 per cent . of the vote . That puts it behind Renzi 's Democratic Party , the . anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the anti-immigrant . Northern League whose leader Matteo Salvini seems to be . eclipsing Berlusconi as the prominent figure on the Italian . right .
Italy 's highest court confirms acquittal for former PM Silvio Berlusconi . He was charged with abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor . Berlusconi was accused of paying for sex with 'Ruby the Heartstealer ' Comment: He was said to have had sex with her during 'bunga bunga ' erotic parties .