The co-owner of Rocco’s Deli Italiano, 53-year-old Long Beach resident Steve DeSisto, was sentenced Monday following a December conviction for sexually assaulting a woman he met at a bar in 2013, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office (LADA) announced.
DeSisto was sentenced to nine years in state prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, said LADA public information officer Ricardo Santiago in an email to the Long Beach Post.
In a press release issued when DeSisto was convicted in December, Deputy District Attorney and prosecutor Sherry Powell said the jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding DeSisto guilty of two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object where the victim was intoxicated, and one count each of possession of a controlled substance and unauthorized invasion of privacy.
Powell said DeSisto had drinks with the female victim on August 7, 2013. The woman became intoxicated, and DeSisto took her back to his Long Beach apartment, she said.
“While at Desisto’s home, the woman passed out, but woke up to the defendant sexually assaulting her,” Powell said. “The victim was able to flee the home, at which point she notified police about the assault.”
Upon investigating the incident, police discovered an image of the victim during the sexual assault on DeSisto’s cell phone. Cocaine was also found at DeSisto’s home.
DeSisto was arrested January 15, 2014 and charged in connection with the crime.