Maurizio is a celebrity chef whose creations would draw guests from all over the city… now he’s in prison for a heinous crime
A high-profile chef will spend at least seven years behind bars after he was found guilty of raping a ‘vulnerable’ worker and confessed to the sexual assault of two others.
In 2021, Maurizio Di Ciano, former owner and 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 challenged the charges in a lawsuit 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 employees in their 20s and 30s, all of whom were recently hired foreigners when the crime occurred in 2020.
His allegations of sexual penetration related to the rape of an employee during her second shift at No Menu restaurant one evening in December 2020, the ABC reported.
The court heard the chef slipped a $50 note into her bra and offered to give her a tour of the restaurant.
He then sexually assaulted her in the storage room as she repeatedly told him “no.”
Maurizio Di Ciano was sentenced to more than half a decade in prison for assaulting employees
The court heard the restauranteur stuffed $50 notes into a worker’s underwear before being raped
When she returned to work, Di Ciano approached her in a banquet hall.
There he stuffed a $50 bill into her underwear and sexually assaulted her again.
The other two charges related to inappropriate touching against two other women who worked their first shifts in May and November 2020.
A 21-year-old woman gave evidence about a trial service she attended at Di Ciana’s No Menu after the then 47-year-old approached her at the Crown Towers in Perth for a job. WToday reported.
The court heard that during the service the young woman felt uncomfortable when Di Ciano put his hand on her thigh and sat close to her.
She had reported the incident to police after seeing news reports of similar events involving a Perth restaurant owner, and suspected it could be Di Ciano.
Di Ciano punched a worker on the buttocks before using a frying pan to touch her when asked to stop
The restauranteur was also convicted after slapping a 33-year-old female employee on the buttocks and then laughing before doing it again half an hour later.
The employee reportedly asked him to stop spanking her butt before inappropriately touching her with a frying pan for a third time the next day.
She reported him to the police later that day.
Prosecutor Kade Rosenthall told the court there was an imbalance of power between Di Ciano and his three victims, given the girls’ age difference and employment levels.
‘Young people have no life experience. They are often not as worldly as people with that life experience,” he said
He added that Di Ciano’s crime had had a long-lasting effect on the victims, both psychologically and financially.
He said Di Ciano’s offending was of a ‘continuing nature’ involving three vulnerable victims.
The court ruled that there was an ‘imbalance of power’ between him and the young victims who worked for him
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 ended due to ‘spontaneous’ and ‘relatively brief’ offences.
WA District Court Judge Gary Massey described Di Ciano’s actions as ‘seriously offensive’ and sentenced him to seven and a half years in prison, backdated to July 2024.
Di Ciano also had 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.
