MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Metropolitan Museum of Art employee who says she was stalked by a man on trial for rape described Monday how he went from being an intriguing admirer to an unhinged obsessive who tried to force himself on her and repeatedly showed up at the museum to ogle her.
The woman, Paola D'Agostino, who works at the Upper East Side museum assembling the permanent Italian collection, told jurors at Hugues-Denver Akassy's trial Monday that after intitally courting her under false pretenses, he grew threatening and tried to force himself on her.
But D'Agostino said was not originally put off by the man, who is also accused raping a woman in Riverside Park and other sexual assaults and stalking incidents.
Akassy at the time was believed to be nomadic and posing as a French-African television reporter boasting of his phony credentials.
He faces a series of charges for the alleged incidents against five women between November 2007 and February 2010.
"He told me, 'Don't worry, I'm a journalist.' We briefly discussed his work and he showed me his ID," said D'Agostino, who said she was impressed by the stories he told about his purported work abroad when he stopped her on the Upper West Side in June 2009 to say he thought he recognized her.
She did not believe she'd ever met the 43-year-old, but he asked her to get coffee after apologizing if it seemed "too forward," D'Agostino said.
They went for coffee, discussed traveling and politics, and enjoyed each other's company, she testified.
"He seemed a very smart, articulate person — one of those people you'd expect to meet in New York," said D'Agostino, who is from Naples, Italy, and lives on the Upper West Side.
They corresponded by email in the coming days and arranged to meet a second time, she explained.
"I found you quite elegant, interesting and attractive," Akassy wrote her on June 19, 2009, while asking to set up a second date.
During that encounter, while picnicking in a Manhattan park, she said he kissed her but she backed away.
During their following date, in which the two again picnicked in a Manhattan park, D'Agostino said she was put off by his aggressiveness after Akassy climbed on top of her and tried to kiss her against her will.
She grew concerned, and he accused her of being racist for not wanting to spend more time with him, D'Agostino said.
Prosecutors say Akassy also lured a Russian woman he met at the Time Warner Center to Riverside Park for a picnic before raping her.
"I was puzzled. I did not understand," she told a jury at his trial Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
She explained that Akassy walked her home one night after she decided to give him another chance, but after she declined to let him into her apartment to use the bathroom, he pounded on her buzzer, called her a "b--ch" and shouted outside her building.
"I called a friend. I was very scared and I locked the door," she said.
He also made at least eight trips to the museum, where D'Agostino spotted him staring at her as she went about her business, she said. Akassy also appeared at the bar inside the Hudson Hotel where she was having birthday drinks with friends, she said.
Akassy told the woman he lived in Washington, D.C., and was working on a satellite TV project based in New York, she testified. He showed her a website with his phony credentials and said he worked for Reuters in Africa.
After Akassy's arrest on rape charges, D'Agostino's sister called to inform her that she'd seen the man who was harassing her on the news in August 2010. Then she reported the stalking to police, she said.
He maintains his innocence and says any encounters with his accusers were consensual. He plans to testify in his own defense either late this week or early next, his attorney said.