A Gucci heiress with a ‘shattered soul’ was sexually abused as a child for years by her then stepfather who was admitted to a facility that treats pedophiles, a Los Angeles court heard.
Alexandra Gucci Zarini, daughter of Patricia Gucci, 62, sat just 10 feet from the man she says preyed on her and left her traumatized for decades in a civil case she brought against him.
The 40-year-old great-granddaughter of company founder Guccio Gucci is seeking tens of millions of dollars from Joseph Ruffalo, now 85, who was previously married to her mother.
Ruffalo, a former music manager who worked with Prince and Earth, Wind & Fire, denies the allegations.
Zarini, wearing an elegant black pant suit, matching pumps, simple pearl earrings and with her hair pulled back in a clip, observed the proceedings while sat in the first row of the gallery near the jury of six men and six women on Monday.
The brunette appeared visibly distressed during the first day of the trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
She had also sued her mother for negligence in not preventing the alleged abuse but dropped the claim days before the trial began.
In his opening statement, Zarini’s attorney Gary Dordick spoke of Ruffalo’s ‘sexual perversion’ and told the court the case ‘is about the innocence of a child.’
Alexandra Gucci Zarini, the great-granddaughter of Guccio Gucci – the founder of the luxury Italian company – appeared in court Monday for the first day of the trial of her claims of sexual abuse in Los Angeles, California
Zarini claims her stepfather, Joseph Ruffalo, now 85, sexually abused her as a child for years. (Pictured: Ruffalo with Patricia Gucci, Zarini’s mother and his ex-wife, seen in 2005)
The 40-year-old heiress donned an elegant black pant suit, matching pumps, simple pearl earrings and had her hair pulled back in a clip for court
He told members of the jury: ‘You will see from the evidence, you will know she’s telling the truth.’
They will hear ‘overwhelming evidence’ that Ruffalo is a ‘sexual predator.’
Zarini’s mother was divorced with two young daughters when she first met Ruffalo, the court heard.
‘He was in his 50s when he became their stepfather,’ said Dordick. ‘He was doing cocaine and was an alcoholic drinking scotch.’
According to the lawyer’s opening statement, Ruffalo would frequently walk around in a robe ‘naked underneath’ while he portrayed himself as a ‘nice friendly step-daddy.’
However, explained Dordick, the defendant began sexually molesting Zarini when she ‘six years old, maybe seven.’
Ruffalo ‘would get into her bed, open his robe and put his hand on his penis and rub it.’ At the same time he told his victim that he ‘loved her.’
In one instance, he ‘put his hand up her shirt, fondled her nipples and molested her.’
Zarini is seen as a child with her grandfather, Aldo Gucci, in an undated image
Zarini (far right) is seen outside the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse on Monday with her legal team, including her attorneys Gary (left middle) and Taylor B. Dordick (right middle)
He would claim to be his stepdaughter’s ‘tutor’ and told her mother that he needed to be in a room alone with her.
Zarini has spent ‘a lifetime’ trying to block out the memories from the abuse which continued through her childhood, said Dordick.
She ‘grew up confused, ashamed, embarrassed, not knowing what to do with those emotions.’
He added: ‘Inside she has cracks and a shattered soul.’
As a child, he told the jury, Zarini would regularly scrub herself with hot water and soap in an attempt to clean away ‘the dirty and shame’ until her skin was raw.
Dordick explained there was a ‘strange relationship’ between Zarini and her mother who would punish her daughter for taking soap and for spending too long in the shower.
The tormented child would rip out her hair as a ‘cry for help’ but she was punished for that as well, he said.
At the same time as the alleged abuse, Zarini and her younger sister, Victoria Gucci-Losio, were told to show ‘affection and respect’ for Ruffalo even as he continued to ‘assault and molest her,’ he told the jury.
Dordick told the courtroom: ‘One day when she was a little child she saw him come out of her sister’s room… she was four.’
Ruffalo molested Zarini’s sibling ‘throughout all her childhood. Same MO. Same everything,’ Dordick said.
Zarini’s mother was divorced with two young daughters when she first met Ruffalo (pictured in 2016). Her attorney said he allegedly started sexually abusing her when she was ‘six years old, maybe seven’
Patricia Gucci and her father, designer and former Gucci chairman Aldo Gucci, seen in 1982. Aldo passed away in 1990 at the age of 84 from prostate cancer
Victoria Gucci-Losio, shown at the Wynn Las Vegas resort in 2016, is estranged from Zarini since she filed her lawsuit. They last spoke several years ago
Zarini tried to protect her sister, warning her: ‘You have to stay away from Joe.’
Today, though, the sisters are estranged since Zarini filed her suit, and they last spoke several years ago.
‘My client and her little sister… there’s disdain,’ explained Dordick, who said Gucci-Losio didn’t want the alleged abuse to become news. ‘They don’t like each other. They don’t speak.’
The sisters grew up with immense wealth which included homes in Beverly Hills, London and Palm Desert.
They were ‘told not to air their dirty laundry’ but Zarini revealed the alleged abuse in 2007, which prompted her mother to start divorce proceedings against Ruffalo.
‘She felt her mother should have protected her and not told her to forget about it,’ explained Dordick of his client. ‘It’s caused terrible fracturing of the family.’
Zarini was a young girl when she began using drugs, alcohol and pills – supplied by Ruffalo – to mask her emotional pain, according to her attorney.
‘For a while there, she went off on a bad path,’ said Dordick.
She overdosed and underwent ‘extensive treatment’ in hospital. She wrote in her diary ‘I want to die,’ he said, and also went to rehab and had ‘lots and lots of therapy.’
Dordick said it was ‘completely, factually false’ that his client had only brought her civil case to land a monetary windfall.
She is ‘trying to pick up the pieces of her life.’
He noted that the accused had also attended ‘a clinic for pedophiles in South Africa’ and had also admitted ‘I was sick.’
Co-defense counsel Donna Rotunno said that while growing up Zarini’s family was ‘tight-knit but very dysfunctional.’
Ruffalo and wife-to-be Gucci were ‘platonic’ friends for ten years before they wed and the marriage created a ‘happy, blended family.’
Patricia Gucci (pictured) had previously denied her daughter’s allegations and claimed they were an attempt to extort money from her family
Zarini was a young girl when she began using drugs, alcohol and pills – supplied by Ruffalo – to mask her emotional pain, according to her attorney
Zarini was already pulling out her hair before Ruffalo entered the picture, claimed Rotunno.
He helped his stepdaughter with her school work and when she left home for college ‘begged to go back to live with Joe,’ Rotunno said.
Rotunno pointed out the ‘slow but very awful deterioration of plaintiff’s relationship with her mother’ at the time.
She also insisted the Zarini had brought her case for ‘financial motive.’
After Zarini dropped the case against her mother, the two announced in a statement: ‘We have decided to end the lawsuit and move forward with our lives. We wish each other peace and joy.’
Gucci had previously denied her daughter’s allegations and claimed they were an attempt to extort money from her family.
The Gucci family has not been involved with the Gucci brand since 1993.
Zarini, a married mother of one, began legal proceedings in 2020.
She released a video four years ago describing her ordeal and said her mother and grandmother ‘did not protect me, they did not shield me, they allowed it to happen.
‘As hard as this is for me, I feel it is my duty to expose the misconceptions about child sexual abuse and to raise awareness that every single day we as a society are failing to protect the most vulnerable and innocent among us, our children.
‘This is not something that only happens to other families in other neighborhoods or other countries. It is everywhere.
‘When I was abused and sexually assaulted, I had no one to protect me, no one to save me and no one who did anything about it. This is far too common. There needs to be accountability for those people who look away and who don’t stop child sexual abuse from happening.
Fashion house founder Guccio Gucci – Zarini’s great-grandfather
‘That inaction is costing us lives and robbing children of their future.’
The New York Times previously reported that Zarini filed a report with the Beverly Hills Police Department outlining the abuse.
‘I am deeply sorry for the pain Joseph Ruffalo caused Alexandra,’ Patricia previously said in a statement to the outlet.
‘What he did to her is inexcusable and I was devastated when she disclosed everything to me at our family doctor’s office in London in September 2007.
‘I immediately initiated divorce proceedings against Mr. Ruffalo and set about healing my family through counseling.
‘I am equally devastated by the allegations against me and her grandmother, which are completely false.’
Zarini has established an organization, the Alexandra Gucci Children’s Foundation, to combat the sexual abuse of children.
The case continues.
When contacted by Daily Mail, co-counsel for Ruffalo declined to comment. Daily Mail contacted Zarini’s legal team for comment.
