Perth Restauranteur, Mate Pretended To Be Gay Couple To Rape Woman

A WA pizza shop owner and his friend pretended to be a gay couple to rape a woman in her 20s, a Perth court heard this week.

Trigger warning: This story has details of multiple accounts of sexual assault. 

Twenty-nine year old Alberto Nicoletti, who runs pizzeria Lago Di Como is facing criminal charges for allegedly sexually assaulting six women over a span of five years.

According to WA Today, the prosecution told a Perth magistrate’s court that Nicoletti had a history of predatory behaviour. Nicoletti would allegedly target women in their 20s who were drunk and vulnerable.

Nicoletti’s crimes came to light after a woman was sexually assaulted inside a public toilet at Scarborough beach on March 14, 2021. Police released security camera footage of two men exiting the public toilet after the woman was assaulted.

Do you know these men?@WA_Police have released vision of two men they'd like to identify in relation to a sexual assault in Scarborough on March 14 #perthnews pic.twitter.com/VZ9XCcrljr

— 10 News First Perth (@10NewsFirstPER) July 22, 2021

Two Accused Face 15 Charges

The court heard that Nicoletti and his friend Vincenzo Mineo, 36 met the woman at The Lookout bar in Scarborough. They pretended to be a gay couple and asked the woman if she would like to take cocaine with them in a nearby disabled toilet. 

The men then raped the woman in the toilet. They then returned to a different bar, El Grotto, where they separately raped two other women. The Daily Mail reported that the men then boasted about the incidents on Facetime. 

The WA Police in a statement said that the two men “are facing 15 charges after a Sex Assault Squad investigation into an alleged sexual assault that occurred in Scarborough”.

ARRESTS – SCARBOROUGH SEXUAL ASSAULT

Two men are facing 15 charges after an investigation into an alleged sexual assault that occurred in Scarborough on Sunday, 14 March 2021.

Read more here: https://t.co/4CyUFzqjE0

— WA Police Force (@WA_Police) August 11, 2021

A Serial Sexual Predator

“During their investigation, Sex Assault Squad detectives were also contacted by other women who were allegedly sexually assaulted by the same men,” the police added.

In 2016, Nicoletti  is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the car park of his pizzeria.  In 2020, he offered a lift to another woman who had fallen on the pavement outside a restaurant and then raped her at her home. Then again in December 2020, he assaulted a woman in Northbridge. 

Earlier this year in July, he posed as an Uber driver and sexually assaulted a woman outside a club in Leederville. 

A Perth magistrate rejected Nicoletti’s application for bail and is scheduled to appear in court in October. Meine is presently in home detention. They are yet to enter their pleas. 

Meanwhile , the police said that their investigations are still ongoing and have urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or file a report online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.

For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14

For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.