To win a bet, he raped his co-worker in the locker room of the restaurant where they both worked as waiters. The events occurred in 2016 and now the rapist, Valentino Cofone, 26, has been sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He is charged with a crime of sexual assault.
"After so many years, we have had justice," says Francesca Venditti, lawyer for the girl who was attacked. It was July 2016 when Lidia, 24 years old (fictitious name) was hired as a waitress to work at the restaurant 'La locanda di Pietro', in the Prati neighborhood (Rome). At the same time she found a job as a waiter in the same Cofone restaurant.
The restaurant, located near the Vatican Museums, was very busy and consequently there were many waiters who rotated between lunch and night shifts. According to the accusation, one day Cofone made a proposal to the local pizza man: "Shall we bet 50 euros that I have an intimate relationship with Lidia?" He apparently looked at him incredulously, not believing that the girl had any interest in the defendant, so he answered yes, always thinking that the relationship would be consensual. That same day, July 23, the owner of the restaurant notified the three of them -the defendant, the pizza man and Lidia- so that they would cover the midday shift at the restaurant.
After changing in the restaurant's locker room, according to the reconstruction of the events, the pizza man went to the kitchen and both Lidia and Cofone began to serve customers. The waiter exchanged a few gestures with the pizza man, making him understand that at the end of the day he will have to pay the bet. Lidia, oblivious to all this, took note of the clients' orders in her notebook and served the tables that corresponded to her.
It was very hot at noon and at one point the young woman needed to change, so she went into the changing room and Cofone followed her. After making some jokes, she suddenly approached him and Lidia was incredulous and uncomfortable: Cofone had a partner, he was engaged, and she had never shown any interest in him.
At that moment, the pizza man also entered the locker room and Lidia managed to slip away. Ten minutes later, the young woman returned to the locker room and that was when the defendant, who followed her again, pounced on her and raped her. Lydia was completely paralyzed by fear. After her, she managed to find the strength to call the rapist's girlfriend to tell her what happened.
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