Cops threatened after sex with schoolgirl they met on the street

Two police officers gave evidence in court that they had ‘embarrassed’ the force after an incident with a schoolgirl in a hotel room.

Two Sydney police officers facing misconduct charges after having sex with a teenage schoolgirl in a hotel room, after one of them picked her up while on the job, would trawl the areas they worked for sexual conquests, a court has been told.

Long-time friends Angelo Dellosa, 31, and James Delinicolis, 30, both gave evidence in front of the Downing Centre District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to one count of misconduct in public office.

The pair, linked to the NSW Police Transport Command at Bankstown in Sydney’s southwest, both acknowledged they had embarrassed the police force with their actions after having a consensual threesome with the 17-year-old schoolgirl referred to in proceedings as “Violet” and filming part of it.

Between May 2019 to May 2020, Dellosa and Delinicolis frequently spoke to women and handed out their phone numbers while on duty, attempting to score a sexual relationship, agreed facts stated.

They used what they called a “bat phone” to communicate with women while on duty.

Angelo Dellosa approached women while working. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Steven Saphore

The court was told that Delinicolis would “use his position as a police officer to pick up women” and would keep a pile of post-it notes with his number on it to give out to females he spotted while on duty.

He gave out probably a few a week, he told the court.

Dellosa too, on nine occasions over the 12 months, approached women while working.

Crown prosecutor Karl Prince told the court it was not about whether the actions were “moral” or whether the men had been unfaithful to their wives in having sex with “Violet” but “the abuse of his position as a police officer”.

“His conduct has fallen so short of what was expected of him that it merits a charge and criminal punishment,” he said in respect of Dellosa.

But Dellosa’s barrister Margaret Cunneen SC said the offence was “motivated by some kind of sexual frustration rather than the classic decision to let the public down by abusing one’s office”.

The pair, who were initially charged with non-consensual sex on the schoolgirl before the charges were later withdrawn, also told of the dramatic toll the sexual assault charges, which garnered plenty of media attention, had on them.

James Delinicolis’ conduct fell ‘so short of what was expected of him’. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

This included death threats during a 22-day Silverwater prison stint, where Dellosa was called a “child rapist” by other inmates and both men were taunted to end their lives.

Delinicolis, who was also in the Army Reserve before the incident, told the court that he was “scared” during his time in custody and was told by prisoners to end his life before they did.

“I thought it was only Catholic priests who did this, not police officers,” one jail officer was said to have told him.

He said when he saw the media reports mentioning attempted rape, he thought it was “some kind of trap”.

He said he felt “very bad” for “Violet” and “very guilty that I put her in that position” and acknowledged there was a power imbalance between him and the teenager.

Dellosa, whose family emigrated to Australia when he was 13, wept during parts of his evidence, telling the court he always wanted to be a police officer in a way to thank the Australian community.

“I’ve also tainted the name of the police force. I was supposed to be a role model. I took an oath in August 2012 to be a role model in the community. It’s an oath that I’ve broken,” he said.

A statement of agreed facts lay out how the encounter with a 17-year-old girl inside a southwestern Sydney hotel room in August last year unfolded.

One day in March 2020, Delinicolis – wearing his uniform – started up a conversation with a girl he saw standing outside a train station while in a patrol van with three other officers.

James Delinicolis, 29, and Angelo Dellosa, 30. Picture: Facebook

He asked what her name was, if she was single and how old she was.

She told him she was 18 even though she was 17 at the time, and he handed her a piece of paper with the name “Dimitri” and his phone number on it.

“She’s old enough” Delinicolis replied when some in the van congratulated him.

She messaged him to say “hey” and they exchanged sexual messages – Delinicolis offering to send pictures of his penis and the girl returning a nude photograph.

Later that night another officer warned the pair about engaging with a schoolgirl.

“Are you guys seriously talking about a schoolgirl?” he said and referred to an incident where an NRL player was stood down for taking a schoolgirl back to their team hotel.

Delinicolis replied: “We are not doing anything wrong.”

On August 13, Delinicolis arranged to pick up the schoolgirl and take her to a hotel in Cabramatta.

He asked if she wanted to have a threesome, and she consented to “one at a time”.

It is agreed by the parties that all sexual contact inside the hotel room between the group was consensual.

Delinicolis had sex with the 17-year-old at the hotel before Dellosa arrived.

Delinicolis watched on as the pair had sex, and when they finished he began having sex with her again.

Dellosa began filming it on his mobile phone, and the clips were later found on a Samsung phone.

The girl communicated with the men for a while afterwards before she ceased speaking with them.

The girl told her 32-year-old boyfriend and some school friends what had happened before an anonymous complaint was made to police on June 26.

Delinicolis was arrested when he arrived at work and told officers: “She said she was 18.”

Both men were suspended from the police force without pay.

Acting Judge Peter Berman reserved his decision until next Friday.