FBoy Island Australia 2023 contestant Riccardo Valenza sentenced for harassment

A former dating show contestant tried to bribe a Qld woman to send explicit photos of herself before calling her 50+ times on private numbers, while committing a similar offence to another woman.

Riccardo Valenza.

A man who was on an Australian reality TV show has now appeared in court after he harassed a woman he met on social media, with it being revealed the offence overlapped with his other charge of harassment regarding another victim.

Riccardo Valenza – now charged twice with harassment – was on the 2023 season of FBoy Island Australia and currently works as a veterinarian in the Sunshine Coast.

The 30-year-old appeared in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Friday morning via video link, sat next to his defence lawyer Chris Lumme.

Police prosecutor Niharika Kudumula said Valenza started speaking to the Queensland woman in June 2022 through social media where they continued to talk until September that same year.

“She was offered money by Valenza to communicate more frequently and to send him pictures and videos of a sexual nature,” the prosecutor said.

The woman stopped talking to him in November and blocked him on social media, the court was told.

Despite her blocking his accounts and his phone number the man continued to call from a private number between December 8, 2022 and June 29, 2023 and on one occasion she answered and was able to identify him through his voice, which the prosecutor said caused “anxiety” and stopped her from answering any private numbers.

When police reviewed the call logs they found he called her 51 times total and on one evening 11 times in less than two hours.

Riccardo Valenza.

Ms Kudumula told the court he was sentenced for the same offence in Brisbane Magistrates Court in December last year which involved a different woman but occurred at the same time of the current harassment charge.

Valenza’s lawyer Mr Lumme intervened and said his client pleaded guilty on the previous charge on the basis that he contacted a different complainant 15 times over a two-minute period.

His lawyer also told the court he suffered “extra-curial punishment” as his former veterinarian practice received threats and “intimidating” phone calls from people who saw a Facebook post about the matter.

“He suffered as a result from a Facebook post that was made by this particular complainant, she wasn’t involved in contacting the workplace or suggesting anyone do so but a number of people took it upon themselves to do that,” Mr Lumme said.

“As a result of the Facebook post he did lose his employment at the time, prior to him commencing his current employment.”

Mr Lumme said his client who was born in Italy and studied in Townsville at James Cook University was currently in a “stable relationship” and had been for the last 10 months.

The court was told the veterinarian board would need to be notified of today’s court outcome.

Magistrate Viviana Keegan called the offending “persistent and harassing”.

“At 30 years of age, so particularly as a professional you should be understanding of the consequences of your actions,” she said.

Valenza was originally charged with stalking however he was officially dismissed by Her Honour as it was replaced with one count of using a carriage service to menace or harass which he pleaded guilty to.

He was sentenced to a good behaviour order of $1000 for two years and no conviction was recorded.

“If you come back with anything similar you most definitely will have convictions recorded, do you understand?” Her Honour asked.

Valenza replied, “yes”.

He was also ordered to pay $1000 to the victim within 28 days.

Originally published as FBoy Island Australia 2023 contestant Riccardo Valenza sentenced for harassment