An Italian graphic designer accused of raping his Airbnb host told a court she performed a sex act on him after he gave her a relaxing massage.
Diego Dellarovere allegedly attacked the woman at her Croydon flat in May 2021 after she welcomed him as her first ever guest.
The prosecution claim the 43-year-old sexually assaulted and raped the woman shortly after he arrived at the property and told her ‘I’ll leave a good review’.
Today, Mr Dellarovere, who denies all charges, told Croydon Crown Court he sat on the sofa and drank wine with the alleged victim, claiming there was a ‘chemistry’ between them, before he offered her a Reiki massage.
The father-of-one told jurors the pair then kissed and touched consensually before she performing the sex act which lasted ’10-20 seconds’ in a ‘moment of passion’.
Diego Dellarovere outside Croydon Crown Court denies rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration on May 7, 2021
![Today, Mr Dellarovere told Croydon Crown Court he sat on the sofa and drank wine with the alleged victim and claims there was a 'chemistry' between them](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/18/16/80184399-12978955-image-a-9_1705594750314.jpg)
Today, Mr Dellarovere told Croydon Crown Court he sat on the sofa and drank wine with the alleged victim and claims there was a ‘chemistry’ between them
The court was told that Mr Dellarovere was a trained Reiki therapist, a therapy he says the alleged victim knew about.
Aided by an Italian interpreter, he explained: ‘It’s not a massage but it’s a technique to recover, to treat somebody.
‘And all this conversation, there was a sort of chemistry. We were laughing and joking, everything was very natural.
‘At that point when there was this kiss she came closer and we became more intimate, we started to hug and touch each other. We kissed and hugged.
‘It was a chemistry, our looking at each other. I made a joke, I said ‘Look at [your dog’s] face they seem attracted by me, maybe they feel the Reiki energy.
‘I made a joke, “maybe you seem attracted as well?”‘
Following this conversation, Mr Dellarovere claims the alleged victim caressed his left leg, while he touched and kissed her breast.
He continued: ‘Then, while we were caressing each other I put a hand here, on top of her pelvic area.
‘I left my hand there for two seconds and removed the hand because she was sitting at this moment.’
Defence barrister Sumita Mahtab-Shaikh asked Dellarovere whether he touched her intimately.
He insisted he had not because ‘she was sitting down and she was dressed’.
The defendant said: ‘I pulled down my trousers a bit because it was a moment of passion. My trousers weren’t all the way down.’
Mr Dellarovre says she did enjoy ‘the moment’ because he was in an ‘uncomfortable position’.
![The court was told that Mr Dellarovere trained Reiki therapist, a therapy he says the alleged victim knew about](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/18/16/80184403-12978955-image-a-11_1705594837240.jpg)
The court was told that Mr Dellarovere trained Reiki therapist, a therapy he says the alleged victim knew about
![Mr Dellarovere explained that he had decided to stay at an Airbnb property in Croydon 'for my lifestyle](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/18/16/80184397-12978955-image-a-13_1705595150497.jpg)
Mr Dellarovere explained that he had decided to stay at an Airbnb property in Croydon ‘for my lifestyle
He said: ‘At this point I was in an uncomfortable position, I didn’t enjoy that moment because I was in an uncomfortable position.
I was going to move and then it was just like she had woken up and she stood up and went back and she said “No, no, it’s too soon, I made a mistake”.
‘At the point she stood up I still had my trousers down. I stood up and I said ‘Everything’s ok, there’s nothing wrong’ and I tried to hug her.
‘At this point she said “No, no” and when I heard her I was embarrassed, pulled up my trousers and went in my room.’
Dellarovere told the court he then went out for a walk and they exchanged a number of text messages.
He said that initially he had been worried she thought he hadn’t enjoyed the encounter, saying: ‘I didn’t want her to feel refused.
‘I thought she felt I didn’t want her or maybe she thought I didn’t enjoy it.’
During the text exchange, the woman had told Dellarovere: ‘You are a predator’, and his reply ended with the word ‘predator??????’, the court heard.
He later wrote: ‘You really need more light in your soul, more freedom. The men are not all about evil. Why did you send that message?’
Dellarovere told jurors: ‘I said ‘goodbye’, there was nothing more to explain. You need more light in your soul because you are making up everything.’
Asked whether he had performed any sexual acts on the complainant without her consent Dellarovere replied that he had not.
Croydon Crown Court was told yesterday that Mr Dellarovere booked the room despite living just 12 miles away in Kensington.
In a police interview played to the jury, the woman described how she thought it strange he needed a room given that he lived in London. But she accepted the booking anyway.
Today, Mr Dellarovere explained that he had decided to stay at an Airbnb property in Croydon ‘for my lifestyle’, adding ‘it was cheap, and because there was a park close by and I like nature.’
He said: ‘I like to explore new places, and in that period it was a Covid period, and I couldnt travel or visit other places and the idea to go on a night out – it was close to my lifestyle.’
Mr Dellarovere, of Holland Road, West Kensington, denies rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration on 7 May 2021.
The trial continues.