A Gucci heiress has been awarded $115 million in damages in a ‘landmark’ ruling after winning a lawsuit against her ‘sexual predator pedophile’ former stepfather, who she said abused her for years beginning when she was six years old.
The sensational case brought by handbag designer and children’s advocate Alexandra Zarini, 40, caused a massive rift among descendants of the luxury fashion house.
Her mother Patricia Gucci, 62, filed for divorce from second husband, Joseph Ruffalo, 85, in 2007 after her daughter came forward with shocking allegations against him.
On Tuesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury of six men and six women took two hours and 40 minutes to find Ruffalo liable for sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A single tear ran down Zarini’s left cheek as the unanimous verdict was read out in Department 57.
She wore a matching black ensemble with jacket, leggings, blouse and flat pumps as she sat next to her husband in the front row of the public gallery and stroked his arm.
After the verdict, Zarini told the Daily Mail she was ‘extremely grateful. The jury was incredible.’ The case, she added, had been ‘really hard, scary, painful.’
Alexandra Zarini (pictured at court on September 9) has been awarded $115 million in damages
Joseph Ruffalo (pictured), 85, has lost a lawsuit, accusing him of being a ‘sexual predator’
Zarini (pictured as a child with her grandfather, Aldo Gucci) said Ruffalo started abusing her when she was six years old
She developed trust issues with older men and said she felt safer dating a woman when she was younger.
Court heard that Zarini filed the lawsuit after seeing Ruffalo’s LinkedIn profile, which announced he was volunteering at a children’s hospital.
She told co-defense counsel Donna Rotunno, who previously defended Harvey Weinstein and calls herself the ‘ultimate feminist,’ that she was ‘seeking justice and to stand up to my abuser, Joe Ruffalo.’
She reported the assault to three police agencies in the US and UK, but authorities took no action.
The court was also told that Zarini’s lawsuit was the reason for a deep rift with her sister Victoria Gucci-Losio, 35, who had not wanted to be a witness, and with their mother Gucci.
The sisters, who both speak with an English accent, had not spoken since 2020 when the suit was filed, but partially reconciled during the trial.
‘I’d say we were very close,’ Gucci-Losio told attorney Dordick of her sibling before their falling out. ‘There was nobody who knew me better.’
Gucci-Losio, a married mother of two, lives in Milan, Italy, and works part-time for her mother’s company.
Under questioning by Dordick, Gucci-Losio revealed she was also sexually molested by Ruffalo as a child.
‘I remember Joe coming in the room when it was dark when I was four,’ she told the court. ‘I was on my bed alone then something unusual happened.’
Her mother Patricia Gucci (left), 62, filed for divorce from second husband, Ruffalo (right) in 2007 after her daughter came forward with shocking allegations against him
Victoria Gucci-Losio (pictured) said she was also sexually molested by Ruffalo as a child
Zarini’s lawyer Gary Dordick said the verdict in her case was a ‘landmark’ ruling (pictured: Zarini, left, and Dordick, right, at court on September 9)
She said she was abused by Ruffalo ‘far too many’ times, most frequently after she turned nine.
During proceedings, Zarini took the stand, where she told Ruffalo: ‘I swear to God, if I had the strength to do it I would have punched you in the face for sexually abusing my little sister.’
Dordick told the Daily Mail the verdict was a ‘landmark’ ruling and that Zarini plans to donate all monies collected from Ruffalo will be used to ‘protect children.’
He called Rufallo a ‘child molester’ and a ‘monster.’
Rotunno told the Daily Mail of her client: ‘This is a difficult thing to do to somebody when they’re this age.
‘There needs to be some reforms in the way we allow these cases to come forward.
‘I don’t think it’s right to have to defend yourself after 20, 25, 30 years.’
Gucci-Losio told the Daily Mail: ‘To me, the truth has always been important.’
Jury foreman Leo Lych told the Daily Mail Zarini was ‘very convincing in her testimony.’
