Co-Owner of Four Seasons Julian Niccolini, arrested on sex-abuse charges

The co-owner of the famed Four Seasons was arrested Wednesday, June 3 on charges of molesting a young woman at the hotel’s eatery.

Julian Niccolini, 62, who is also a managing partner of the Four Seasons restaurant, is in hot water after allegedly groping the 28-year-old daughter of an associate at a party on May 9. After surrendering to the NYPD’s Special Victims Division at 11:40am on Wednesday, June 3, Julian was arraigned in criminal court and charged with a single count of of first-degree sex abuse.

Julian’s charge is a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to the New York Post. After his arraignment in court on the morning of June 3, he was released on his own recognizance and maintained his innocence — something he’s been doing for months. “I am not guilty,” he told reporters waiting outside the courthouse. “I look forward to getting back to work tomorrow.”

According to the alleged victim’s account of the night of May 9, she supposedly was stuck alone with Julian in the bar area of the restaurant around 9:00pm, while everyone else had stayed in the dining room. She described the scene when speaking to police two days after her attack: Julian allegedly grabbed her breasts and behind, pulled down her stockings and touched her inappropriately, leaving scratches on her back and bruises on her hips.

This isn’t the first time Julian has been accused of sexual abuse. In 1991, he was accused of sexually harassing a Four Seasons waitress named Mary Beth French, who filed a $4 million lawsuit against him for using “lewd, foul, obscene” language with her — and suggesting that she prostitute herself out to a customer. The suit was resolved in 1992, but there’s no available information on the outcome.