Alexandra Zarini, the 35-year-old granddaughter of Aldo Gucci, the man who turned a small Italian artisinal company into a global fashion brand, has filed a lawsuit in a US court alleging that her stepfather sexually abused her over a period of 16 years. The action, filed in the California superior court in Los Angeles, describes years of sexual abuse from her former stepfather, Joseph Ruffalo, and complicity and a cover-up on the part of her mother, Patricia Gucci, and grandmother Bruna Palombo. Zarini’s lawsuit alleges that Ruffalo, a music-industry player who has worked with Prince and Earth, Wind & Fire, subjected her to sexual abuse from the age of six to when she was about 22. The lawsuit, which was first reported by the New York Times, alleges Ruffalo regularly got into bed naked with her, fondled her and attempted to penetrate her with his hands. Zarini further alleges he exposed his own genitals to her and rubbed them against her. Zarini also claims that Patricia Gucci not only allowed her former stepfather to continue the alleged molestation but that Palombo instructed her “to keep quiet and cover them up”, the lawsuit states. Both women, Patricia Gucci and Palombo, the lawsuit continues, “tried to avoid, at all costs, what they perceived would be a scandal that could tarnish the Gucci name and potentially cost them millions”. The lawsuit also accuses her mother of hitting and sometimes trying to strangle her daughter. Her then husband, Ruffalo, would then “rescue” his stepdaughter and allegedly abuse her under the pretense of being her protector. Zarini claims she knew abuse was coming when she heard the ice clinking in his glass of scotch as Ruffalo made his way toward her bedroom. She also claims Ruffalo encouraged her in the use of cocaine and crystal meth.“If you think this doesn’t happen here in Beverly Hills, then you should know that my perpetrator still lives in California, spends time at the Bel-Air country club and volunteers in your children’s hospitals,” Zarini said in a video released by her lawyers.“This is not something that only happens to other families, other neighborhoods or other countries. It is everywhere.”The paper confirmed that Zarini had filed a report outlining alleged abuse with the Beverly Hills police department. The paper confirmed that the police file remains open. The filing of the 21-page lawsuit was paired with the launch of the heiress’ anti-child abuse nonprofit, the Alexandra Gucci Children’s Foundation. In a statement Patricia Gucci said she was “deeply sorry for the pain Joseph Ruffalo caused Alexandra”.“What he did to her is inexcusable and I was devastated when she disclosed everything to me at our family doctor’s office in London in September 2007. I immediately initiated divorce proceedings against Mr Ruffalo and set about healing my family through counseling.”However, Patricia Gucci, who lives in Switzerland, denied Zarini’s allegations against her and Palombo. “I am equally devastated by