Italian ex-cop accused of drugging Hong Kong women stands trial over Couchsurfing rape spree
An Italian former policeman who allegedly drugged and raped more than a dozen women - including two from Hong Kong - faced an Italian court to stand trial for the rape of a 16-year-old Australian girl.
An Italian former policeman who allegedly drugged and raped more than a dozen women he met through the Couchsurfing website - including two from Hong Kong - faced an Italian court on Tuesday to stand trial for the rape of a 16-year-old Australian girl.
On the opening day of the trial, prosecution lawyers said Dino Maglio, 35, left the Australian victim defenceless by spiking her drink with tranquilisers.
Maglio is suspected of carrying out or attempting similar assaults on up to 15 other women he met through the popular travel site. His alleged victims include two women from Hong Kong who stayed with him in his flat in August 2013, as well as female travellers from Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Portugal and the United States.
The two Hong Kong women say they were given a "special strawberry dessert wine" that knocked them unconscious and caused memory loss.
Most of the women's testimonies were handed to police following an investigation by journalists at the Investigative Reporting Project Italy.
The trial has reignited long-standing safety concerns surrounding Couchsurfing, which matches travellers with hosts who offer free accommodation in their homes.
The prosecution said Maglio should go to jail for seven years and four months for the alleged assault on the Australian girl.
As most of the facts of the case are uncontested, it is being dealt with under behind-closed-doors, fast-track procedures, which mean a verdict could be announced at the end of the next one-day hearing, which is scheduled for April 18.
Lawyers representing the interests of the victim requested damages of €250,000 (HK$2.05 million) for her and a further €50,000 for the trauma caused to her mother, who also stayed at Maglio's home in Padua, near Venice, on the night of the attack in March last year.
The Italian Ministry of Defence, Maglio's employer, is seeking damages of €936,000 - €1 for every citizen in the province of Padua.
Maglio is charged with raping a minor with the aggravating circumstance of having administered a narcotic without her knowledge.
According to the prosecution, the girl, who had stayed up chatting to Maglio after her mother and younger sister had gone to bed, was given a drink he had spiked with tranquilisers similar to ones used in date rape cases in their ability to trigger confusion, weakness and amnesia.
When the mother woke in the morning, she discovered her daughter in Maglio's bed without her underwear and in a state of extreme lethargy.
Maglio was arrested after the family filed charges in Venice. He admitted to spiking the girl's drink and having sexual intercourse with her while she was under the influence, but claimed the sex was consensual.
At his flat, police confiscated a stock of 40 Tavor pills, the Italian brand name for lorazepam, a powerful anti-anxiety drug that can cause drowsiness, blurred vision and muscle weakness.
Last month, Jennifer Billock, the chief executive of Couchsurfing, refused to disclose how many people had stayed with Maglio through the site.
"In the interest of member privacy and in order to minimise [the] risk of abuse of member safety and security, we're not at liberty to discuss further specifics of this incident," Billock told the .
