A first-time Airbnb host allegedly raped and barricaded herself in her room with a knife after a guest, a graphic designer, told her she would leave a “good review” the next morning.
The unidentified south London resident claimed that Diego Dellalovere, 43, from nearby Kensington, raped her in 2021 after he rubbed her shoulders and offered her a massage at his home in Croydon. ing.
“At that point he mentioned the massage and he followed me really close and got behind me and started massaging my shoulders and I said 'no thanks,'” she said. He told detectives in a recorded play in court.
“Then I was sitting on the couch and he touched my leg and said, 'Play some spa music and I'll give you a massage.'” “I have some oil,” she said, “and I'll give you a massage.” According to the Daily Mail.
As they chatted on the couch over wine, she noticed he was “getting a little bit more dexterous,” but she said, “He's Italian and that's what they do.” She said she ignored it. According to The Sun.
Then “things took a turn” and he allegedly grabbed her “pretty hard” and kissed her neck and chest while putting his hands inside her leggings.
“As I kept saying 'no' and straining, he stuck his tongue in my mouth and moved from there to my breasts, his hands slipped into my leggings. I did it,” she said. According to the Telegraph.
The man then allegedly pulled down her pants and underwear and forced her to have sex.
“At one stage he managed to get my top off and then I was like 'I've got to stop' and it took about another 30 minutes.” [before] I stopped him from advancing,” she said. “I said, ‘You should go to sleep,’ and he went to sleep and I barricaded the door.”
She gathered up her dog and cat, barricaded herself in the room with a kitchen knife, and blocked the door with furniture.
But Mr Delarove began texting her asking to share his bed and allegedly promised “I wouldn't do anything,” The Sun reported.
The woman was so distressed that she called a friend, who told jurors the victim seemed “very upset.”
“She was scared and afraid of what was going to happen, so she kept saying, 'I don't know why this happened to me,' and she kept repeating, 'I said no.'” a friend said.
Later, when he met the woman and her friend, the victim said he was “very distressed and very tearful and began to shake.”
Delarove eventually left the apartment and returned around 2 a.m., the Telegraph reported. He slept in her spare room and told her the next morning that he would “leave a good review.”
The woman reportedly only planned to report the incident to Airbnb, but realized that the alleged assailant might attack again and decided to file a police report. He says he has reconsidered.
“I wanted him to come forward because I thought he would do something like this to someone else,” she told detectives.
Mr. Delarovea was her first guest, and she admitted that she thought it odd that he would need a room since he lives near Kensington, but accepted the request nonetheless.
She had left a neutral review of Deal Rover on the platform, but Deal Rover allegedly sent her a message saying the assault was consensual and that he “loved it,” according to the Daily Mail. reported.
“I didn't see any opposition from you,” he wrote, allegedly telling the woman she was “oppressed” and “not a good person.”
The graphic designer denies verbally raping or sexually assaulting the woman.
