Two Hong Kong women among alleged victims of Italian ex-cop accused of Couchsurfing rape spree
PUBLISHED : Friday, 06 February, 2015, 12:35pm
UPDATED : Friday, 06 February, 2015, 3:29pm
Cecilia Anesi, Giulio Rubino and Alessia Cerantola in Italy
Accused rapist Dino Maglio (centre) pictured with two women he hosted at his home. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Two Hong Kong women have emerged as possible victims of a former Italian police officer accused of being a serial sex attacker who used networking website couchsurfing.com to lure unsuspecting tourists to his home near Venice where he allegedly drugged and attacked them.
Italian prosecutors allege that former police officer Dino Maglio – who is behind bars in Italy awaiting trial for the alleged rape of a 16-year-old Australian girl – systematically drugged and sexually abused at least 16 women from 10 countries who contacted him via couchsurfing.com, a website that links tourists with local hosts offering free accommodation.
Among the women who have filed formal complaints against 36-year-old Maglio – who used the name “Leonardo’’ with budget traveller guests – are two Hong Kong women who stayed with him in August last year and alleged they were fed a “special strawberry dessert’’ that knocked them unconscious and made them suffer from memory loss.
One of the women, 24-year-old Amy – not her real name – alleged Maglio then used his position as a police officer to threaten her when she posted negative comments about him on couchsurfing.com.
Prosecutors in Italy are acting on a series of fresh complaints gathered by the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI) who are working with the South China Morning Post and a select group of media organisations in countries where women have come forward to allege they were drugged and molested by Maglio.
Dino Maglio's home in Padua, near Venice. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Several attempts by IRPI and the Post to get a comment from from Maglio’s lawyer, were unsuccessful. The allegations come as the number of independent travellers from Hong Kong and the mainland to Europe’s tourist hotspots is on the rise.
One of the world’s biggest travel websites Expedia.com – which launched in Hong Kong in 2013 – said the number of independent travellers from Hong Kong going to Europe had jumped 184 per cent in the past six months, according to its latest sales figures.
The alleged attacks took place in the quiet Italian town of Padua, about 40 kilometres from Venice.
The picturesque town is a base for large numbers of backpackers who cannot afford Venice prices. Maglio first started offering to host guests through Couchsurfing as “Leonardo” some years back while he was living with a Brazilian girlfriend.
But, starting from March 2013, he used the site to prey on women from all over the world.
Among them was a 16-year-old Australian student named Charlotte - not her real name - who arrived with her mother and younger sister.
Charlotte alleges she was raped by Maglio on the night of March 17, 2014, and her mother found her “unconscious and with no underwear” the next morning, according to the indictment by Prosecutor Giorgio Falcone, who is heading the investigation.
Dino Maglio allegedly earned victims' trust because he was a member of the Italian military police. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Maglio has admitted having sex with Charlotte but claims it was consensual. He was arrested on March 28 last year and is currently in a military prison.
His trial is set for March 17.
Couchsurfing has a testimonials feature that lets users vouch for a host’s qualities – both good or bad.
However, there have been a few other cases of Couchsurfing guests, both men and women, getting raped or sexually harassed. In 2009, a British man was jailed for the rape and killing of Hong Kong woman who stayed at his home.
In May last year, a New Zealand host was charged for sexually abusing two male Couchsurfers in separate incidents, one of whom was drugged.
Couchsurfing chief executive Jennifer Billock said: “We would like the community to know safety is a top priority for us, and we’re constantly evolving our tools and processes to find and halt abusers of our system.”
Additional reporting by Lana Lam
