‘Probably guilty’ but not guilty of sexual assault

Judge says the Crown failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that restaurateur groped woman

A former restaurateur walked out of court a free man Thursday, despite the fact a judge said he was convinced the man molested a customer at a St. Catharines eatery.

“You are more than probably guilty,” Judge Joseph Nadel told 52-year-old Rocco Giovannelli following a two-day trial in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

“You did a very creepy thing.” The judge ruled the Crown had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and he had no option other than to find the Mississauga man not guilty of sexual assault.

“I am confident Mr. Giovannelli did this,” Nadel added.

At issue was the lack of independent corroborating evidence that identified Giovannelli as the man who groped a woman at Cefalu Rustica Eatery in Port Dalhousie in September 2018.

Defence lawyer Carolyne Kerr argued the complainant’s identification of the perpetrator was “tainted” by the fact a woman had sent her a link of an article from a Mississauga newspaper that detailed her client’s 2017 conviction for sexual assault. The 2018 article stated Giovannelli operated a restaurant in St.

Catharines.

Kerr told the judge people are susceptible to “suggestion and inference.”

The day the woman received the link to the story, which included a photograph of Giovannelli, she called 911 to report the assault.

“(The article) gave her the necessary push to decide she wanted to report it to the police,” assistant Crown attorney Stephanie Ford said at trial.

Nadel said he believed both the complainant and her friend who accompanied her to the restaurant and praised them for their poise and confidence during their testimony.

He suggested the complainant should consider filing civil action against Giovannelli.

“Hopefully, (the complainant) will sue you for a monetary judgment,” the judge told the defendant.

The woman testified she was at the Lock Street restaurant with a friend in the fall of 2018 when they were approached by a man who identified himself as the owner.

During the course of a brief conversation, she was sexually assaulted.

No evidence was presented at trial that confirmed Giovannelli was the owner of the restaurant. An account of the incident was later posted on travel website TripAdvisor.

An individual listed as a guest relations manager at Cefalu replied to the post, saying the restaurant had reviewed video footage and the police would be notified.

“Since you chose not to discuss the issue with us and are instead writing it on social media, our lawyers have been contacted and the police will be contacted today. You will be dealing directly with them now,” the reply read.

Giovannelli was arrested the following month.

He previously ran a barbecue restaurant in Port Credit and was part-owner of a pizza restaurant in Mississauga.

According to an August 2018 story in the Mississauga News, Giovannelli was found guilty in 2017 of sexually assaulting a female employee during a staff party at the Mississauga eatery in June 2015. He appealed the guilty finding and the verdict was set aside and a new trial ordered.