Ex-husband Dominique sentenced to 20 years in prison

Dominique Pelicot has been imprisoned for 20 years after drugging his ex-wife Gisèle, raping her and inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her for almost a decade.

The 72-year-old was found guilty of all charges by a judge in Avignon, southern France, and wept in court as he was sentenced to the maximum sentence.

He was on trial along with 50 other men, all of whom were found guilty of at least one charge, although their prison terms were shorter than those prosecutors had demanded.

Gisèle and her children seemed impassive as the verdicts were read, occasionally glancing at the accused and leaning their heads against the wall.

The convictions put an end to the largest rape trial ever held in France, which for three months has shocked the country and the world.

Speaking outside court after the verdicts and flanked by her family, Gisèle Pelicot, 72, said the trial had been a “very difficult ordeal.”

But he said he “never regretted” the decision to make the trial public “so that society could see what was happening.”

Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to waive her automatic right to anonymity was highly unusual and meant that this trial was held in public view. French and world media followed the case with growing interest and hundreds of journalists were present in court on Thursday.

Gisèle herself attended almost every day of the trial and appeared in the same courtroom as her husband of 50 years, whom she has now divorced.

Gisèle also gave her “deep” thanks to her followers and said she was “confident” that there will be a “better future” in which men and women can live in mutual respect.

On Thursday, the court found Dominique Pelicot, who had already confessed to his crimes, guilty of aggravated rape.

He was also convicted of attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of his co-defendants, Jean-Pierre Marechal. Marechal, who has been described as Dominique’s “disciple” because he drugged and raped his own wife for years and invited Dominque to do the same, was jailed for 12 years.

Dominique Pelicot was also found guilty of making indecent images of his daughter, Caroline Darian, and daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine.

Caroline, who was in court on Thursday, said earlier in the trial that she felt like the “forgotten victim” as, unlike her mother’s case, there was no record of the abuse she claimed had been inflicted on her. Dominique denied drugging and abusing her daughter.

After the verdicts, Dominique’s lawyer said his client was “somewhat stunned” by his sentence and would consider appealing. You have 10 days to decide whether to do so.

Of the 50 co-defendants, 46 were found guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault. Several of them have already spent a few years in prison, having been arrested when the police carried out their initial investigation in 2021, and will therefore be released relatively soon.

Most of the men on trial had denied that what they had done was rape.

They argued that they did not realize that Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious and therefore did not “know” that she was being raped, an argument that sparked a nationwide debate over the legal definition of rape in France.

Their prison sentences range from three to 15 years, less than what prosecutors had demanded.

In statements to the AFP agency, Pelicot’s children declared themselves “disappointed” by the “low sentences.”

For nearly a decade starting in 2011, Dominique Pelicot drugged and raped his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot, and recruited dozens of men online to have sex with her while she was unconscious.

His crimes were discovered in 2020, when police arrested him on another charge of filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.

The police confiscated his devices and found thousands of videos on his laptop, with evidence of around 200 rapes committed.

Investigators used the videos to locate his co-defendant, although they were unable to identify 21 other men.

Dominique Pelicot admitted to the charges in 2020.

The trial sparked a discussion about whether the question of consent should be added to the legal definition of rape in France, as in other European countries.

Currently, rape in France is defined as “any act of sexual penetration committed against another person by means of violence, coercion, threat or surprise,” meaning prosecutors must prove intent to rape.

Many of the defendants argued that they did not realize that Gisèle Pelicot had not given consent, claiming that they were “deceived” by Dominique Pelicot and believed that they were going to the couple’s home for a threesome that involved the fantasy that The woman would be asleep.

The trial also shed light on the issue of chemical submission: drug-induced sexual assault.

Most of the 50 men come from cities and towns within a 50-kilometer (30-mile) radius of the Pelicots’ home village of Mazan.

They Among them are firefighters, truck drivers, soldiers, a journalist and a DJ.and defense lawyers have described them as “ordinary people”, earning them the nickname Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde (Mr. Anyone).

The trial also brought to light sexual violence against women in France, with many praising Gisèle Pelicot for her bravery in revealing full details of the case to the public.

She previously said she was determined to make “shame change sides” from victim to rapist, a phrase that has been repeated and used by her followers.

Gisèle’s lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, previously told the BBC that his client did not want to be considered an icon.

But Gisèle’s message to women was that “they have a strength that they cannot even imagine and that they need to trust in themselves,” she added.

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