A Manhattan restaurant owner has been bound over on 26 charges of sexual abuse against three minors, with arraignment set for next month.
The charges against 62-year-old Robert Iacobellis, owner of Bob’s Diner, range from aggravated indecent liberties to rape and sodomy. If convicted, 24 of the counts carry a life sentence. Judge William Malcolm found enough probable cause from testimony Tuesday from the three alleged victims to proceed to trial.
Iacobellis will be arraigned at 2:30 p.m. July 6 with Judge Kendra Lewison presiding.
At Tuesday’s hearing, the three victims testified Iacobellis touched, fondled, or sexually assaulted them on numerous occasions, sometimes when they were as young as seven years old. Iacobellis will be tried on 16 counts against the first victim, including charges of rape and sodomy. The others include six counts of aggravated indecent liberties against a second victim and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties against the third victim.
Testimony from at least one of the victims alleged the abuse began when her mother, a former weekend employee at Bob’s Diner had Iacobellis babysit her while she went to work. That victim alleged the abuse continued until January 2019.
Iacobellis was arrested in August 2019. An amended complaint initially listed 130 total charges alleged by the three victims.
He remains jailed on a $400,000 bond.
