Italian policeman charged with raping Couchsurfing guests
A 35-year old Italian policeman has been charged with administering narcotics to women and then raping them while they were his guests at home.
Prosecutors in Italy announced Friday that they will investigate claims by more than a dozen women, including one filed by the mother of a 16-year-old Australian girl, who accuse Dino Maglio of drugging and raping them at his home in the northern city of Padua near Venice. Maglio will go on trial from March 17.
According to the reports, Maglio found his victims through a social networking website called Couchsurfing.
The network, which offers services to travelers looking for free accommodation, has been criticized for lacking safety requirements and putting at risk the lives of the travelers.
Other users have previously reported cases of attack by hosts about whom they have no information.
In his last case which happened in March last year, Maglio hosted an Australian mother and her two girls.
The mother and the younger sister are understood to have gone to bed while having no concerns about their 16-year-old staying up chatting with Maglio at night.
However, as they woke in the morning they found the girl in the Maglio’s bed while in an extremely lethargic situation.
The family filed a complaint in Venice, where the suspected policeman admitted to drugging the girl through her drink, but he claimed that he did not rape the girl as the sexual intercourse was based on consensus.
The Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI) has also received similar complaints from 14 other women from seven countries.
Couchsurfing director Jennifer Billock has expressed her solidarity with the victims of the “horrific crime,” saying that she applauds their courage and tenacity in pursuing justice.
MS/AS/MHB
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