Beauty influencer drugged and raped by her dentist in his home after he offered her free dental treatment
An influencer has taken to social media to thank those who supported her as the dentist who raped her is jailed for ten years.
Beauty influencer Stefania Costache, known as Lolrelai to her 240,000 Instagram followers, was attacked by her dentist Costin Iulian Berechet four years ago after he said he would give her free dental work.
Costache's lawyer Adrian Cuculis said that other women claimed that “they had suffered the same fate, but their complaints were dismissed by other prosecutors' offices for lack of evidence.”
Judges at Bucharest District Court, however, found him guilty of sexual assault and false imprisonment on Thursday (September 19).
Social media star Costache wrote a statement after the conviction, writing: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those who contributed to this true victory . . . it can be done in Romania as well! Thank you to the other victims who have come out and told their story of what my abuser did to them.”
She went on: “Thank you to the other victims who came forward and told what my aggressor did to them! I thank God and my friends in private!”
Costache accused Berechet of offering her free dental treatment and then drugging her in his office in 2020, before taking her to his home to sexually assault her.
According to Romanian publication Observator News, Costache, who decided to waive her right to anonymity to raise awareness, said that when she visited Berechet's practice to receive dental treatment, he “applied a gel that tasted like vinegar” in her mouth and told her to keep it in for two minutes without rinsing.
She said: “I asked if I could rinse now and he said no, that I had to swallow. That was the moment when everything had become too strange.” She said shortly afterwards she taken to his home where he raped her.
CCTV footage recorded in the stairwell of the building where Berechet lived showed the pair together, with investigators concluding that the woman was visibly confused and disoriented.
Costache later returned home, and it was then her flatmate alerted emergency services due to her state. “My flatmate told me what happened, because I had no memories, ever since then I said I'm going to the police today. I couldn't remember anything,” Costache told Observator News.
Berechet denied the allegation, claiming that he had only administered lidocaine, a local anaesthetic. In addition, the dentist said that he only took his patient back to his home because she felt unwell.
Berechet was also ordered to pay Costache $50,000 (around £37,400) in moral damages.
Costache received many messages of support on her social media post. One said: “Well done, congratulations for your courage, for your perseverance, congratulations on behalf of all women who have been sexually assaulted in any form!!! You've released a precedent!”
Another said: “Well done, congratulations. You don't even know how happy I am for you. This man should have been locked up a long time ago.”