A street sweeper who used his likeness to Keanu Reeves to lure women on dates has been jailed for drugging, raping and filming the abuse of his three victims.
Ubaldo Manuali, 59, from Rome, Italy, was sentenced to nine years and 10 months in prison after being charged with aggravated sexual violence and the illegal distribution of sexually explicit images.
During the investigation, it emerged that Manuali had managed to convince three women he met on social media to meet him in person before carrying out the horrific abuse.
During the harrowing trial, they revealed they all met the cleaner online through one of his six different social media accounts, where he bragged about his resemblance to Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves.
After seducing them and creating a level of trust, he would strike.
Ubaldo Manuali, 59, from Rome, lured women on dates with his alleged resemblance to Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves
The street sweeper was sentenced to nine years and 10 months in prison after being accused of aggravated sexual assault and the illegal distribution of sexually explicit images of three women
The women were allegedly invited to meet Manuali before being drugged with sleeping pills without their knowledge.
Once unconscious, the victims were raped and the abuse was filmed before Manuali distributed the footage to his friends.
Investigators had seized all of Manuali’s cellphones and laptops and discovered that he had saved not only all the messages with the women, but also the images and filming taken that night.
Prosecutor Michele Adragna said: ‘This type of violence is more serious than physical violence, it is more subtle because it takes advantage of women’s psychophysical disabilities.
‘It’s like double violence. And Manuali is blinded by the sexual result, by his satisfaction.’
The investigation by the Viterbo Flying Squad and the Flaminio Nuovo Police Station began after a report was filed in January by the last victim, Stefania Liozzi from Capranica.
She had to visit the emergency room after the night with Manuali when she woke up confused and dazed.
Manuali would brag about how he looked like Reeves, 59, pictured
Photos and videos of the abuse were found in Manuali’s phone while she appeared semi-conscious and from there they tracked the other two victims.
‘Every time we went out together he would brag to me that he had had a thousand women. He was obsessed with his beauty, with showing off,” Lozzi told local media.
“But then he took pictures of me all the time and repeated, ‘Look, I’m a serious man, they’re the ones looking for me,’” she added.
The three victims, from Capranica, Alatri and Mazzano Romano, will receive compensation of around £22,000 following their ordeal.
In the arrest warrant that led to the immediate trial, the investigating judge spoke of “a pronounced criminal capacity”, driven by a “maniacal perversion to satisfy his sexual impulses, intoxicating the victims to avoid a possible refusal.”
They said the 59-year-old had ‘a total inability to self-control’ and could ‘make his victims believe he was helping them even when they were feeling unwell’.
When the verdict was announced, Manuali seemed unfazed by the outcome and claimed he would appeal, insisting ‘I know I didn’t do anything’.