Roberto DiStasio

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“	Later, I will be free, and you will be out of a job.	„
	~ DiStasio threatening Detective Amanda Rollins

Roberto DiStasio is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Scorched Earth". He is a powerful Italian diplomat and sexual predator who rapes hotel maid Miriam Deng.

He was portrayed by Franco Nero, who also portrayed Colonel Von Ingorslebon in Force 10 from Navarrone.

Early life[]

DiStasio is a powerful, influential diplomat with Italy's Global Economic Trust, a job that takes him all over the world. Although he is married with adult children and a grandchild, he uses his power, influence, and charm to cheat on his wife, Sofia, with as many women as possible.

While most of his conquests sleep with him willingly, he sometimes uses force to get women to submit to him, even if they say no. He does not consider this rape, but part of "the dance" of seduction between a man and a woman; he believes that a woman's eyes say yes even if her mouth says no. He also believes that it is a man's right to take what he wants from a woman, and a woman's place to submit.

A few years prior to the events of the episode, he sexually assaulted a hotel maid while staying in New York City for an international conference. When she went to the police, he used his clout and political connections to make the investigation go away.

"Scorched Earth"[]

While on a diplomatic trip to New York City, DiStasio checks into an expensive hotel, where he forces Miriam Deng, a Sudanese immigrant who works there as a maid, to perform oral sex on him. When she tries to get away from him, he locks her in his hotel room, and he grabs her so hard while forcing her to fellate him that he leaves bruises on her arms.

Deng accuses DiStasio of rape, and the NYPD's Special Victims Unit investigates him, eventually finding enough evidence to arrest him for rape, assault, and unlawful imprisonment. While interrogating him, Detective Amanda Rollins plays "good cop" by bringing him takeout from an Italian restaurant and offering to hear his side of the accusations against him. DiStasio says that his encounter with Deng was consensual, and that any resistance she put up was just part of "the dance". When Rollins appears skeptical, DiStasio threatens to have her fired.

During the trial, DiStasio claims that Deng "offered herself" to him, and that afterward she threatened to accuse him of raping her unless he gave her $10,000. His lawyer, Marvin Exley, then enters into evidence an audio recording of Deng angrily declaring that she wanted to sue DiStasio for millions. He also introduces a witness who says that he helped Deng lie on her application for asylum in the United States about being gang-raped by 12 soldiers in the Sudan, when in fact she was raped by "only" one soldier.

The case against DiStasio becomes so complicated that Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter pressures Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot to drop the charges. When Deng testifies about the rape, she gives an account that matches the one she gave Detective Olivia Benson word for word, which creates doubt about her truthfulness; even Benson, who normally believes the victims in rape cases, begins to wonder if Deng really is running a scam.

Cabot cross-examines DiStasio and asks him how he could tell that Deng wanted to have sex with him, having met him only moments before. DiStasio arrogantly replies that he "saw it in her eyes" that she wanted him and did not need her to actually say so. Cabot asks why he had locked her in the room and bruised her arms; he replies that they wanted privacy, and that he bruised her because he was overcome with passion. When he says that "a man knows" when a woman wants him and when she is enjoying sex, Cabot asks why she had scratched his face if she enjoyed what he did to her - a question that leaves DiStasio flustered and speechless.

Ultimately, the jury is unable to reach a verdict on the rape charge and finds DiStasio innocent of assault. They find him guilty of unlawful imprisonment, however, a verdict that will likely result in him serving a year in prison. As he is led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he loudly protests that the verdict is "a farce".

External links[]

Roberto DiStasio on the Law & Order Wiki

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Villains

Exiled: A Law & Order Movie
Gianni Uzielli