A former disability support worker whose “relentless” stalking of women included attempting to mail a police officer’s home address to a bikie gang has been jailed for four years.
Judge Brian Devereaux said Del Vecchio had committed a series of offences for “incomprehensible” reasons, beginning with him sending letters to a Queensland government building that threatened to detonate explosives if certain conditions were not met.
Crown prosecutor Melissa Wilson said fingerprints on a letter received on August 3, 2022 were matched to Del Vecchio and a search warrant on his address also uncovered five cans of pepper spray.
In November 2022, Del Vecchio sent a threatening letter to the detective senior constable who had charged him.
“The letter said ‘Your days are now numbered … You don’t know which people you put away have your address,” Wilson told the court.
Del Vecchio also attempted to send a letter to an outlaw motorcycle gang that contained a forged search warrant targeting its members along with the detective’s home address.
Wilson said Del Vecchio’s offending had a detrimental effect on the detective.
“(The detective) had to take sleep medication and had CCTV and security screens installed at her home,” she said.
Del Vecchio also targeted a woman he met on the fetish community dating and events app FetLife, repeatedly creating accounts with her full name and workplace.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said Del Vecchio had posted images of her family including a picture of when she met a young relative for the first time.
“That wonderful experience has been permanently tainted by his malicious and reckless actions,” the woman said.
Del Vecchio also admitted to harassing the owners of a business catering to the fetish community by making numerous false complaints.
The business owner said she had suffered “relentless and overwhelming” attempts to intimidate her from behind a computer screen.
Wilson said the letters Del Vecchio wrote in custody showed he had tried to fake a psychiatric illness to avoid trial, and described his threats to police as “doing a good thing”.
Defence barrister Joseph Briggs said Del Vecchio was still a young man who had pleaded guilty and needed immediate release on a suspended sentence so he could seek therapy.
“The police will seize upon this man very quickly if there is any indication he is doing this again,” he said.
Judge Devereaux said he had to protect the community and require Del Vecchio to prove he was ready for release.
“You invaded the personal lives of these people in a way that is more than just unsettling; it has caused ongoing distress,” he said.
Del Vecchio was declared eligible to apply for parole immediately due to already serving 17 months in custody, a process that could see him spend up to another 120 days in prison.
