Accused fake Uber rapist freed on bail
A man accused of raping a woman in the back seat of his car after she mistook him for her Uber driver has been freed on bail.
Francesco De Luise, 59, is accused of attacking three women between January last year and September this year.
Prosecutors fought against his release, highlighting an alleged “modus operandi” of driving around licensed premises late at night and in the early hours and giving rides to women who asked if he was their Uber driver.
He allegedly asked one woman “do you want me to stop” while he raped her after picking her up from Public House bar in Richmond in September this year.
She said yes but he allegedly continued the attack, which began with rubbing her leg and pulling up her skirt.
The woman took out her phone and filmed some of the incident, Justice Champion said on Thursday.
She messaged her boyfriend who immediately contacted police and drove up behind De Luise.
“Tell him I’m your Uber driver,” De Luise allegedly told her to tell him.
He later told police he rubbed her leg and offered that she could touch his penis, but she declined.
De Luise admitted touching himself in front of the woman, and touching her, but denied raping her. He believed the woman “set him up and led him on”, the judge said.
In January 2021 he picked up another woman and allegedly touched her genital area while asking her “come on, give me a shot”.
He picked up a woman near Sidney Myer Music Bowl in June 2022 and allegedly told her she had “really lovely legs” before rubbing her thighs up to her underwear.
She took a picture and sent it to her boyfriend, describing his behaviour as “f***ed”.
Justice Champion said it was alleged De Luise then began masturbating, telling the woman “I just need two minutes”.
“(The woman) was extremely fearful,” he said.
She took a photo of the car’s registration after yelling for the driver to stop.
Justice Champion noted there were uncharged allegation from 2005 and 2021 that the driver of vehicles registered in De Luise’s name had been loitering and trying to entice drunk women into his car.
De Luise admitted picking up each of the three women, aged between 21 and 35, but offered police different versions of events.
His mother offered a $1.4 million surety to secure his release on bail. He will be subject to a curfew and only allowed to drive for work purposes during daylight hours.
De Luise’s arrest had placed a significant burden on his wife and family, who had taken out a more than $2 million loan for five townhouses.
He had been receiving Transport Accident Commission payments for lost wages and mental health support before his arrest, stemming from his involvement in a fatal car accident in July 2022.
But he will be able to work for his brother in their co-owned trucking business, Justice Champion said.
The father of three adult children will live with his wife in Airport West and cannot go within 100m of licensed premises or into the Melbourne CBD.
De Luise’s case returns to Melbourne Magistrates Court in March.
