Ex-husband and 50 men he recruited online found guilty in France of raping his wife while under the influence of drugs

Ex-husband and 50 men he recruited online found guilty in France of raping his wife while under the influence of drugs

Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “very difficult ordeal” after 51 men were found guilty on Thursday in the drug and rape trial that made her a feminist hero and expressed her support for other victims of sexual violence whose cases did not received so much attention and “whose stories remain untold.”

“I want you to know that we are fighting the same fight,” she said in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down sentences ranging from three to 20 years in the shocking case that stunned France and spurred a trial had imposed a national reckoning on the scourge of rape culture.

As activists against sexual violence protested outside the courthouse, the 72-year-old expressed “my deep gratitude to the people who supported me.”

“Your messages touched me deeply and gave me the strength to come back every day and get through these long daily hearings,” she said. “This process was a very difficult ordeal.”

Pelicot – now an icon for many women in France and beyond after she bravely called for all evidence to be heard in court – also said she was thinking about her grandchildren after watching more than three months of hearings into the rapes and other abuses inflicted on her by her now-ex-husband and his more than four dozen accomplices over a period of nearly a decade.

“I fought this fight for them too,” she said of her grandchildren. “I wanted the whole of society to witness the debates that took place here. I have never regretted this decision. I trust in our ability to prepare together for a future in which everyone, women and men, can live in harmony, with respect and mutual understanding. Thank you very much.”

The court sentenced her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious and through sedatives he hid in her food and drink , was unconscious.

The sentence was the maximum possible under French law. He was found guilty on all charges. At age 72, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. He can only apply for early release once at least two thirds of the sentence have been served.

Dominique Pelicot and the 50 other defendants stood one by one as presiding judge Roger Arata read first the verdicts and then the sentences – a process that took over an hour.

“You are therefore found guilty of aggravated rape of the person of Ms. Gisèle Pelicot,” said the judge as he worked his way through the long list of names.

Gisèle Pelicot faced the defendants in the courtroom and sometimes nodded her head as the verdicts were announced.

Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said she would consider an appeal but also expressed hope that Gisèle Pelicot would find comfort in the verdicts.

“I wanted Ms. Pelicot to be able to emerge from these hearings with peace of mind, and I think the verdicts will contribute to that relief for Ms. Pelicot,” she said.

Of the 50 people charged with rape, only one was acquitted, but was instead found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty of sexual assault, meaning all 51 defendants were found guilty in one way or another.

In an adjoining room where family members of the defendants watched the trial on television screens, some burst into tears and gasped as the verdicts were announced.

Protesters gathered outside the courthouse watched the proceedings on their phones. Some read the verdicts and applauded as they were announced inside. Some carried oranges as symbolic gifts for the defendants on their way to prison.

Prosecutors had demanded that Dominique Pelicot receive the maximum sentence of 20 years and that the other rape defendants receive prison sentences of 10 to 18 years.

But the court was more lenient than prosecutors had hoped, with many sentencing them to less than a decade in prison.

For the defendants, except Dominique Pelicot, the sentences ranged from three to 15 years in prison, with some even suspended. Arata informed six defendants that they were now free, which explains the time they had already spent in custody while awaiting trial.

Dominique Pelicot admitted that he drugged his then-wife of 50 years for years so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults.

The horrific ordeal she endured in what she said was a loving marriage and her bravery during the painful process have galvanized activists against sexual violence and prompted calls for tougher action to stamp out rape culture.

The defendants were accused of taking part in Dominique Pelicot’s sordid rape and abuse fantasies, which were played out at the couple’s retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.

One of the men was sentenced to 12 years in prison not for attacking Gisèle Pelicot, but for drugging and raping his own wife – with the help and drugs of Dominique Pelicot, who was also found guilty, that man’s wife to have raped.

The five justices voted on their verdicts by secret ballot, with the majority voting in favor of the convictions and sentences.

Activists against sexual violence hoped for exemplary prison sentences and saw the trial as a possible turning point in the fight against sexual violence and the use of drugs to oppress victims.

Gisèle Pelicot’s courage, as a survivor of sexual abuse, to renounce her right to anonymity and to successfully advocate for the hearings and shocking evidence – including videos – to be heard publicly has raised eyebrows both at the national level in France and among families, Couples and other friend groups engaged in discussions about how to better protect women and the role men can play in achieving this goal.

“Men are starting to talk to women – their girlfriends, mothers and boyfriends – in ways they didn’t before,” said Fanny Foures, 48, who joined other women from the feminist group Les Amazones in messages of support for Gisèle Pelicot plastered walls around Avignon before the verdict.

“It was awkward at first, but now real dialogues are happening,” she said.

“Some women may be realizing for the first time that their ex-husbands have hurt them or that someone close to them has committed abuse,” Foures added. “And men are starting to reckon with their own behavior or complicity – things they have ignored or failed to act on. It’s hard, but it creates change.”

A large banner that activists hung on a city wall opposite the courthouse read: “MERCI GISELE” – Thank you, Gisèle.

Police first became aware of Dominique Pelicot in September 2020 when a supermarket security guard caught him secretly filming women’s skirts.

Police then found his library of homemade images documenting his wife’s years of abuse – a total of more than 20,000 photos and videos, stored on computer drives and cataloged in folders labeled “abuse,” “her rapists,” “night alone.” and other titles.

The abundance of evidence led the police to the other defendants. Investigators counted 72 different perpetrators in the videos, but were unable to identify them all.

Although some of the defendants – including Dominique Pelicot – admitted they were guilty of rape, many did not, even in the face of video evidence. The hearings sparked a broader debate in France about whether the country’s legal definition of rape should be expanded to include explicit mention of consent.

Some defendants argued that Dominique Pelicot’s consent also affected his wife. Some tried to excuse their behavior by insisting that they had not intended to rape anyone when they responded to their husband’s invitations to come to their home. Some blamed him, saying he led them to believe they were engaging in consensual sex.

Leicester, Nouvian and Lesprit write for the Associated Press. Associated Press journalist Alex Turnbull in Paris and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Lyon, France, contributed.

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