A high profile chef will spend at least seven years behind bars after he was found guilty of raping a ‘vulnerable’ employee and confessed to the indecent assault of 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 now 51-year-old fought the charges in a trial earlier this year but was found guilty of three charges of sexual penetration without consent.
In September, Di Ciano also pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault against another woman.
The court heard that he targeted female workers aged in their 20s and 30s who were all recently-employed foreign nationals when the offending occurred in 2020.
His sexual penetration charges related to the rape of an employee during her second shift at the No Menu restaurant one night in December 2020, the ABC reported.
The court heard that the chef stuffed a $50 note in her bra, offering to give her a tour of the restaurant.
He then sexually assaulted her in the storeroom while she told him ‘no’ repeatedly.
Maurizio Di Ciano was sentenced to over half a decade in prison over the assault of employees
The court heard the restauranteur stuffed $50 notes into an employees underwear before rape
When she went back to work, Di Ciano approached her in a function room.
There, he put a $50 note in her underwear and sexually assaulted her again.
The other two counts related to inappropriate touching against two other women who were working their first shifts in May and November 2020.
A 21-year-old woman gave testimony about a trial shift she attended at Di Ciana’s No Menu after the then-47-year-old had approached her in the Crown Towers in Perth about a job, WAToday reported.
The court heard the young woman felt uncomfortable during the shift as Di Ciano put his hand on her upper thigh and sat close to her.
She’d reported the incident to police after seeing news reports of similar happenings involving a Perth restaurant owner and she guessed it might’ve been Di Ciano.
Di Ciano slapped a workers’ buttocks before using a frying pan to touch her when asked to stop
The restauranteur was also convicted after slapping the buttocks of a 33-year-old female employee and laughing afterwards, before he did it again just 30 minutes later.
The employee reportedly asked him to stop toughing her bum, before he used a frying pan to touch her inappropriately for a third time the next day.
She reported him to police later that day.
Prosecutor Kade Rosenthall told the court there had been a power imbalance between Di Ciano and his three victims, given the age discrepancy and the girls’ employment.
‘Young people lack life experience. They often aren’t as worldly as people who have that life experience,’ he said
He added that Di Ciano’s offending had had a longstanding effect on the victims, both psychologically and financially.
He said Di Ciano’s offending had a ‘persistent nature’ with three vulnerable victims.
Court heard there was a ‘power imbalance’ between him and young victims working for him
Defence lawyer Seamus Rafferty SC told the court Di Ciano had enjoyed a successful career since his arrival in Australia in 1997.
He said it was a shame that career had ended over ‘spontaneous’ and ‘relatively brief’ offending.
WA District Court Judge Gary Massey described Di Ciano’s actions as ‘serious offending’ and sentenced him to seven-and-a-half years jail, which was backdated to July 2024.
Di Ciano was also ordered to pay an $8,000 fine.
Di Ciano previously ran the restaurant in the WA Italian Club, as well as his now-closed venture No Menu in Highgate.
He will be eligible for parole in 2030.
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