A TWISTED cop who left a woman fearing for her life as he attempted to rape her has been caged.
Ernesto Ceraldi, 44, who has since resigned from Greater Manchester Police, repeatedly punched his victim after boasting about being a cop.
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The former dog handler pleaded guilty to attempted rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced to five years and four months at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday.
Preston Crown Court heard how sick Ceraldi throttled, punched and pulled his victims hair back during the evil April 1 attack.
David Traynor, prosecuting, said the then officer had met his victim in a pub in Lancashire where he told her he was a cop and showed her photos of his police dog.
The victim then invited him back to her home in Rossendale, Lancashire, where they drank wine.
The pair then engaged in consensual sexual activity, before sitting on the sofa and talking together.
Mr Traynor said the victim described a stage when the defendant’s attitude “changed all of a sudden” and he began to demand she perform a sexual act on him.
In a horrifying moment, he then grabbed her hair and tried to force her into it.
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He pushed her against a wall, causing a picture to fall and smash, and put his hand around her throat, the court heard.
Mr Traynor stressed: “The pressure was horrific, she nearly stopped breathing.”
He said Ceraldi repeatedly punched her and there was a struggle before she ran to the back door and escaped.
But the sick cop – who was completely naked – pursued her.
Mr Traynor said: “She was absolutely terrified and she thought he was going to kill her.”
Outside, Ceraldi pinned her against a wall, where a neighbour heard her screaming and helped the victim into her house where they phoned police, the court heard.
‘BLOOD SPLATTERS’
The court heard Ceraldi was found by police sleeping naked on the sofa of his victim’s house, with his leg through the arm of a jacket.
Following the depraved attack, blood spatters were found on walls of the house and hair extensions which he had pulled from her head were found on the floor, Mr Traynor said.
In a statement read to the court, the victim said: “As a police officer I should have been able to trust him without a shadow of a doubt.
“If I cannot trust a police officer with 21 years of service, who can I trust?”
Julian King, defending, said Ceraldi had a wife and two adult children.
He said: “The actions of the defendant were out of character, they were isolated in nature and engaged through, what must be an aggravating feature, the substantial consumption of alcohol.”
Judge Simon Medland QC said: “You and your victim had happily been in each other’s company.
If I cannot trust a police officer with 21 years of service, who can I trust?
Victim
“And I have no doubt that your having mentioned you were a police officer and shown the victim pictures of your police dog must have filled her with confidence.”
He said Ceraldi, who had been consuming alcohol for a substantial period of time, lost his “self control” .
The judge said he behaved in a way which was “aggressive and coercive and violent” and included blunt force trauma and squeezing the victim’s throat.
He said: “It terrified the victim and she was in genuine fear for her life.”
The judge said he believed Ceraldi had shown genuine remorse and said a “very significant” feature of the case was that he pleaded guilty at a plea and trial preparation hearing, having previously denied the offences.
He said the ex cop would be subject to sexual offence notification requirements for the rest of his life and to a restraining order
