KEY POINTS

  • Prosecutor said Ricardo Audish raped the girl first
  • The victim was so distressed a member of the public called an ambulance
  • Audish initially said he was not at the restaurant on the day of the crime

A pizza chef, who raped an 18-year-old girl in his restaurant in Australia before passing her around to three underage boys, has been found guilty.

Ricardo Audish, 41, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated sexual assault by an Australian court Thursday in connection with the incident that occurred in Sydney in Oct 2016, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

According to the crown case, the victim agreed to have sex with her boyfriend, one of the three teenagers involved in the case, in the restaurant bathroom. The boy then told her “all the other boys want to have sex with you now,” to which she replied “hell no.”

However, as the victim was dressing up to leave the restaurant, another teen entered the bathroom and offered her a bong which she smoked twice.

The effect of the drug "caused her to cough, become dizzy, and then a short time later, experience periods of unconsciousness," Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale said in her closing statements Tuesday.

As she went in and out of consciousness, the victim was approached by Audish who asked her if she was okay. He then raped her, following which the others also assaulted her sexually. One of them shot a video, which was deleted later.

"The accused was the boss so he went first,” the Crown said, while the others took their turns according to their age, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Nightingale told the jury after the rapes, one of the teenagers drove the woman up and down the road, saying “you might think, [...] to get some air and in an attempt to sober her up.”

The teen was so distressed and unwell that a member of the public called an ambulance. She was also seen "leaning on a pole for 17 minutes before the ambulance arrived … to keep herself upright," the court was told.

However, Audish denied the charges. His defense lawyer told the court the woman was leaning on the pole as she was “tired” after having consensual sex with four males.

"If one were to have sex with four people it wouldn’t be surprising if you were a bit tired and you might want to go to sleep and not talk about it with busybodies in the street,” defense lawyer Eugene Wasilenia said.

Audish denied the charges, initially claiming he was not at the restaurant at the time, 7News reported. When this was thwarted by a co-worker's statement, he said the sex was consensual.

But, the jury pronounced him guilty. After the jury left the courtroom, Audish created a ruckus labeling the victim a prostitute and insulting the prosecutor.

The three other unidentified accused will have a special trial later.

abuse
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