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In September 2020, Alexandra Zarini, the great-granddaughter of Guccio Gucci, had filed a lawsuit against her stepfather Joseph Ruffalo and accused him of sexually assaulting her over a period of 16 years from the age of 6 to the age of 22. She has filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and Windsor, England. Zarini claimed that her stepfather would continue the abuse even when he paid a visit to the family in Ascot, south of Windsor.
On April 26, Patricia Gucci and her mother Bruna Palombo filed a “motion to quash service of summons” in response to Zarini's lawsuit. She has accused Patricia, her mother, and Bruna, her grandmother, of negligence. In the response, Patricia and Bruna said Joseph had been abusive but denied Zarini’s allegations of collusion and included a motion to quash because of lack of jurisdiction. It also named Patricia's second daughter, Victoria Gucci-Losio, as another of Joseph's victims, and accused Zarini of using the lawsuit to get money from her family.
The response also stated that neither Patricia nor Bruna were aware of the abuse and alleged that Zarini told her younger sister "that they must never tell anyone, and particularly not their mother, about the abuse." It was also stated that Zarini’s claims are based on a desire to extract money from her family.
In a statement to an International daily, Zarini said, "To insinuate that I am to blame for the sexual abuse perpetrated by Patricia’s ex-husband on my little sister, when I myself was being abused, demonstrates a deep misunderstanding of the trauma and the psychological effects of sexual abuse on a young child."
Victoria confirmed the allegation to the daily and said that she had been abused by Joseph. Though she wanted justice, Victoria had not wanted to become involved in her sister’s lawsuit. "I did not want to publicly expose my trauma to the world, and I wanted to move on with my life," she said. "We knew that the family name would attract attention. The decision to keep silent was to protect us from public spectacle and scrutiny," she added.
According to the daily, Victoria was unaware that Zarini "intended to bring legal action against our mother and grandmother" and was 'shocked' by the allegations, which is why she agreed to be named in her mother’s response. A court date of August 20 has been set to hear Patricia's motion. Victoria said, "If I am asked to testify, I am prepared to do so. As hard as it will be for me to have to relive it all over again, I will do what is necessary."
Patricia was married to Joseph, a former music manager, from 1993 to 2008. They lived together in Los Angeles from 1992 to 1998. She left him after being told by Zarini about the abuse.
(Source: The New York Times)
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