|
A high-profile chef will spend at least seven years behind bars after being found guilty of raping a “vulnerable” employee and confessing to indecently assaulting two others.
In 2021, Maurizio Di Ciano, former owner and head chef of No Menu Finest Italian in Highgate, Perth, was charged with three counts of sexual penetration without consent, four counts of common assault and nine counts of indecent assault.
The man, now 51, fought the allegations in a trial earlier this year but was found guilty of three counts of sexual penetration without consent.
In September, Di Ciano also pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault against another woman.
The court heard he targeted female workers aged between 20 and 30, all of whom were foreigners recently employed when the crime occurred in 2020.
His sexual penetration allegations were related to the rape of a female employee during her second shift at the No Menu restaurant one night in December 2020, the ABC reported.
The court heard the chef placed a $50 note in her bra, offering to take her on a tour of the restaurant.
He then sexually assaulted her in the storage room while she repeatedly told him 'no'.
Maurizio Di Ciano was sentenced to more than half a decade in prison for attacking employees
Court heard restaurant owner stuffed $50 notes in employee's underwear before rape
When she returned to work, Di Ciano approached her in an event room.
There, he placed a $50 bill in her underwear and sexually assaulted her again.
The other two allegations concerned inappropriate touching against two other women who worked first shifts in May and November 2020.
A 21-year-old woman gave evidence about a trial shift she attended at Di Ciana's No Menu after the then 47-year-old man approached her at Crown Towers in Perth about a job, WAToday reported.
The court heard the young woman felt uncomfortable during her shift when Di Ciano placed his hand on her upper thigh and sat close to her.
She reported the incident to police after seeing news reports of similar events involving a Perth restaurant owner and guessed it could have been Di Ciano.
Di Ciano slapped a female worker on the buttocks before using a frying pan to touch her when asked to stop
The restaurant owner was also convicted after slapping a 33-year-old female employee on the buttocks and laughing afterwards, before doing the same again just 30 minutes later.
The employee allegedly asked him to stop squeezing her bottom, before using a frying pan to touch her inappropriately for the third time the following day.
She reported him to the police later that day.
Prosecutor Kade Rosenthall told the court there was a power imbalance between Di Ciano and his three victims, given the age discrepancy and the girls' employment.
“Young people lack life experience. Often they are not as worldly as people who have that life experience,” he said.
He added that Di Ciano's offending had a lasting effect on the victims, both psychologically and financially.
He said Di Ciano's crime had a “persistent nature” with three vulnerable victims.
The court heard there was a “power imbalance” between him and the young victims who worked for him
Defense lawyer Seamus Rafferty SC told the court Di Ciano had had a successful career since arriving in Australia in 1997.
He said it was a shame his career had ended due to a “spontaneous” and “relatively brief” offence.
WA District Court judge Gary Massey described Di Ciano's actions as a 'serious offence' and sentenced him to seven and a half years in prison, backdated to July 2024.
Di Ciano was also ordered to pay a fine of US$8,000.
Di Ciano previously ran the restaurant at the WA Italian Club, as well as his now-closed No Menu venture in Highgate.
He will be eligible for parole in 2030.
