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 other people.
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 man fought the charges at 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 recently employed foreigners when the offense occurred in 2020.
His sexual penetration charges were related to the rape of an employee during his second shift at the No Menu restaurant one night in December 2020, the alphabet reported.
The court heard the chef stuffed a $50 note in her bra and offered to give her a tour of the restaurant.
He then sexually assaulted her in the warehouse while she repeatedly told him “no.”
Maurizio Di Ciano was sentenced to more than half a decade in prison for attacks on employees
The court heard the restaurant owner stuffed $50 bills into an employee’s underwear before raping him.
When she returned to work, Di Ciano approached her in an assembly room.
There, he put a $50 bill in her underwear and sexually assaulted her again.
The other two charges were 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 evidence about a trial shift she attended at Di Ciana’s No Menu after the 47-year-old man approached her at Crown Towers in Perth to ask for a job. WAToday reported.
The court heard the young woman felt uncomfortable during the shift when Di Ciano put his hand on her upper thigh and sat close to her.
He had reported the incident to police after seeing news reports about similar events involving a Perth restaurant owner and assumed it might have been Di Ciano.
Di Ciano slapped a worker’s buttocks before using a frying pan to touch her when she was asked to stop.
The restaurateur was also convicted after slapping a 33-year-old employee on the butt and laughing afterwards, before doing it again just 30 minutes later.
The employee reportedly asked her to stop touching her butt before using a frying pan to touch her inappropriately for a third time the next day.
She reported him to the police later that day.
Prosecutor Kade Rosenthall told the court there had been an imbalance of power between Di Ciano and his three victims, given the age discrepancy and employment of the girls.
‘Young people lack experience in life. “They’re often not as worldly as people who have that life experience,” he said.
He added that the crime committed by Di Ciano had had a lasting effect on the victims, both psychologically and financially.
He said Di Ciano’s offending 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 that Di Ciano had enjoyed a successful career since arriving in Australia in 1997.
He said it was a shame his career had ended because of a “spontaneous” and “relatively brief” infraction.
Washington District Court Judge Gary Massey described Di Ciano’s actions as “a serious crime” and sentenced him to seven and a half years in prison, backdated to July 2024.
Di Ciano was also ordered to pay an $8,000 fine.
Di Ciano previously ran the restaurant at the WA Italian Club, as well as his now-closed business No Menu in Highgate.
He will be eligible for parole in 2030.