Warning: this text comprises descriptions of rape and sexual assault
Fifty males went on trial alongside Dominique Pelicot in reference to the drugging, rape and assault of Gisèle Pelicot. On Thursday on the fruits of a months-long trial within the southern French metropolis of Avignon, they had been convicted and obtained sentences of between three and 15 years.
Over a nine-year interval from 2011 to 2020 within the village of Mazan in Provence, Dominique Pelicot crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety treatment into his then spouse’s meals and invited dozens of males to rape her whereas she was unconscious.
The 50 males convicted of rape and assault alongside Dominique Pelicot are aged between 26 and 74. They embody a nurse, a journalist, a jail warden, a councillor, a soldier, lorry drivers and farm employees.
Most lived in south-eastern France inside a 60km radius of the village of Mazan, the place the Pelicots lived. Six had earlier convictions for home violence, and two had convictions for sexual violence. A complete of 23 had a legal report for offences similar to drunk-driving and possession of medication.
A number of the accused males admitted rape however mentioned they’d not set out with this intention, and apologised in courtroom to Gisèle Pelicot, 72, a grandmother and former logistics supervisor. Others denied the cost of rape, saying they’d believed they had been collaborating in a sport by the couple.
Pelicot admitted the costs towards him and mentioned that for nearly a decade he had been involved with males on a web-based chatroom titled “with out her information” the place he would organise for strangers to come back to the couple’s residence.
“I’m a rapist, just like the others on this room,” Pelicot instructed the courtroom in the course of the trial.
The case was heard by a panel of 5 skilled judges and ran till 19 December, when the verdicts and sentences had been introduced. Gisèle Pelicot had waived her proper to anonymity to ensure that the trial to be held in public, saying: “Disgrace should change sides.”
Cyrille Delville, 54
Skilled as a butcher, Delville was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in her residence in September 2019 and sentenced to eight years in jail.
Delville’s accomplice, the mom of his youngsters, was on vacation on the time of the crime. He mentioned he had been sexually annoyed in his relationship and had gone on to the net chatroom to console himself.
In courtroom, Delville admitted rape, saying he had realised later that he had not gained Gisèle Pelicot’s consent, solely her husband’s. He mentioned Gisèle Pelicot was clearly unconscious however that her husband was “insistent”. He mentioned: “I’m sorry, I used to be naive, slightly silly, an fool.” He instructed the courtroom that whereas in jail on remand he had understood that “ladies don’t belong to males”.
Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer mentioned video proof confirmed that the rape by Delville put her life at risk as she risked not with the ability to breathe.
Delville detailed a violent childhood by the hands of his alcoholic father, who he mentioned would wait exterior college with a meat cleaver to assault him and threaten him. “My father was Hitler,” he instructed the courtroom. After a brutal public beating by his father exterior college, Delville was positioned into care as a young person.
Lionel Rodriguez, 44
A employee on the Pelicots’ native grocery store in Carpentras, Rodriguez was a married father of three when he made contact with Dominique Pelicot. He admitted raping Gisèle Pelicot at her residence on 2 December 2018 however mentioned he had not meant to commit rape.
“Since I by no means obtained Mrs Pelicot’s consent, I’ve no alternative however to just accept the details,” he instructed the courtroom. Turning to Gisèle Pelicot, he mentioned: “I’m sorry, I can solely think about the nightmare you’ve lived by means of … and I’m a part of this nightmare.” He mentioned: “I by no means instructed myself ‘I’ll rape that girl’,” however he admitted: “I’m responsible of rape.” He added that he ought to have left when he noticed that she was unconscious, and that it was cowardly of him to not have mentioned something.
The courtroom heard that Dominique Pelicot had beforehand introduced an unsuspecting Gisèle Pelicot procuring on the grocery store in order that Rodriguez may see if he was interested in her.
On Thursday, Rodriguez was discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to eight years in jail.
Rodriguez instructed the courtroom he had been sexually abused on the age of 12 to 13 by the president of the pétanque membership in his village.
Jacques Cubeau, 72
A former hearth officer who had labored as a truck driver after which owned a pizzeria, Cubeau had been married for 25 years and had two youngsters.
He was discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to 5 years in jail, three of them suspended.
He had instructed the courtroom he denied rape. He mentioned he had been “naive” and thought that Gisèle Pelicot would get up and it was a sport by the couple. Cubeau admitted touching Pelicot however mentioned there was no penetration and due to this fact no rape.
Cubeau instructed the courtroom he thought-about that his non secular training had made him a “giving individual” who did good and revered ladies. He mentioned he liked ladies “in all their complexity”.
Jean-Pierre Maréchal, 63
A former lorry driver for an agricultural cooperative in southern France, Maréchal was not accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot. As a substitute, he was discovered responsible and sentenced to 12 years for utilizing the identical method to drug and rape his personal spouse and organising for Pelicot to rape her with him.
Described in courtroom as a “disciple” of Pelicot, he admitted sedating his spouse, with whom he had 5 youngsters, and enlisting Pelicot to rape her.
Maréchal instructed the courtroom that he admitted the costs. Pelicot admitted raping Maréchal’s spouse on a number of events and mentioned he regretted his actions. He mentioned he reduce contact with the couple after Maréchal’s spouse awakened throughout one of many assaults whereas he was in her bed room.
The courtroom heard that Maréchal’s childhood within the French countryside was marked by poverty, excessive violence, and he was a sufferer of sexual abuse inside his household. “I used to be raised by pigs within the woods,” he had instructed his youngsters.
Joan Kawai, 26
A soldier within the French army, Kawai was the youngest man on trial and was on Thursday discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to 10 years in jail.
He was 22 on the time of his rape of Gisèle Pelicot on two separate visits to her residence in 2019 and 2020. He instructed the courtroom: “I’m a rapist as a result of the legislation says I’m,” however he mentioned he had not meant to rape and “on the time I didn’t know what consent was”.
He mentioned he was invited to the couple’s residence by Dominique Pelicot for an encounter and didn’t ask for Gisèle Pelicot’s consent, saying he discovered solely in jail what consent was.
Kawai mentioned he had discovered it unusual that Gisèle Pelicot was loud night breathing, and he knew she was unconscious however had not recognized this meant she had not consented.
Kawai was absent for the untimely beginning of his daughter on the night time he was accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot for the primary time in November 2019.
Born in French Guiana, he had joined his brother in Avignon when he was 16 earlier than enlisting within the military. The courtroom heard he had lived on the streets as a young person and three of his brothers had died. He misplaced his military job when he was arrested. He was described by a psychologist as a persistent consumer of alcohol and hashish, “depressive, impulsive and solitary”.
Hugues Malago, 39
A tiler, motorcycle fanatic and father of two, Malago was convicted of the tried rape of Gisèle Pelicot just a few days earlier than his then girlfriend’s birthday in October 2019. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail.
Malago had denied the cost. He mentioned he had not recognized that Gisèle Pelicot had been drugged and didn’t take a look at her face, simply her physique.
His ex-partner Emilie O, 33, who had met him on-line and lived with him for 5 years, instructed the courtroom she feared she could have been drugged and sexually assaulted by him herself. “I don’t know if I used to be raped,” she mentioned. “It’s horrible. I’ll all the time have doubts.”
She instructed the courtroom that one night time in 2019 she woke as much as discover her accomplice trying to assault her. She launched a police grievance nevertheless it was dismissed for “lack of fabric proof”. She instructed the courtroom she skilled “dizziness” between September 2019 and March 2020 however investigators didn’t detect any substances which may have affected her on the time.
Husamettin Dogan, 43
A married father who had given up part-time work to take care of his disabled son, Dogan was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in June 2019. He was sentenced to 9 years in jail.
Dogan had denied the cost in courtroom, saying: “I don’t settle for being known as a rapist, I’m not a rapist.”
The courtroom heard that Dogan made contact with Dominique Pelicot within the chatroom and went to the Pelicots’ residence the identical night time, telling his spouse he was going out.
Pelicot had instructed him he was on the lookout for an “Arab” man for his spouse. Dogan, born in Turkey, used the net pseudonym “Karim”.
He admitted that Gisèle Pelicot “appeared lifeless”, along with her leg dangling oddly, however he mentioned he had thought it was a situation or sport and that she was pretending. He mentioned Dominique Pelicot had mentioned his spouse was in settlement. He mentioned he had not recognized she had been drugged.
The courtroom heard that Dogan had turn into hooked on hashish from the age of 11 and had lived in youngsters’s properties. In 2000 he was convicted for dealing medication.
Fabien Sotton, 39
Sotton, who had 16 earlier convictions starting from armed theft and drug dealing to home violence and sexual assault of a minor, was on Thursday was given one other for the rape of Gisèle Pelicot in August 2018. He was sentenced to 11 years in jail.
Sotton had admitted the cost however mentioned he had not gone to the Pelicots’ residence with the intention of raping her.
“I didn’t go there to rape her. I didn’t know I used to be alleged to rape her, however I recognise the details,” he mentioned, including that he had “not paid consideration” as to whether or not she had consented.
He mentioned he wasn’t serious about a situation the place a lady was unconscious as a result of he favored to listen to ladies scream. He apologised to Gisèle Pelicot in courtroom.
The courtroom heard that Sotton raped Gisèle Pelicot in her eating room. Requested how this was attainable, Dominique Pelicot mentioned he had put medication in her meal and carried her unconscious to the eating room desk.
The courtroom heard that Sotton had been sexually abused by his father from the age of two, then positioned in several foster households the place he confronted additional violence and sexual abuse, and that he was admitted to psychiatric care on the age of 16. From 18 to twenty-eight he lived on the streets in Toulon as an alcoholic.
Mathieu Dartus, 53
The daddy of two had labored as baker for 25 years earlier than having to depart his job due to an intolerance to wheat. He was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot with Dominique Pelicot on 3 October 2020 and sentenced to seven years in jail.
Dartus admitted the details, saying he was excessive on MDMA on the time and thought it was a sport with a married couple. He accepted later that Gisèle Pelicot had not been in a match state to consent. “I can’t deny it was rape,” he mentioned.
The courtroom heard that Dartus’s stepfather had been violent. He instructed investigators he was impressed by Buddhism and “the steadiness of karmas”.
Andy Rodriguez, 37
An unemployed agricultural labourer and married father of two, Rodriguez had two home violence convictions and on Thursday was discovered responsible of the tried rape of Gisèle Pelicot. He was sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Rodriguez had instructed the courtroom: “Because the husband had given me permission, in my thoughts she agreed to it.”
Rodriguez arrived on the Pelicots’ residence an hour after first making contact on-line with Dominique Pelicot on New Yr’s Eve. He mentioned he had “nothing else to do” that night time as a result of his brothers hadn’t invited him to their New Yr’s Eve get together. He mentioned he had thought it was a sexual “sport” between the Pelicots.
The courtroom heard he had been hooked on alcohol since he was 13 or 14 and was an everyday consumer of cocaine.
Simone Mekenese, 43
A builder, former soldier and father of 5, Mekenese lived on the subsequent avenue to the Pelicots within the village of Mazan, and was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot. He was sentenced to 9 years in jail.
Mekenese was the one one of many defendants whom she recognised when she was proven video proof by police. She instructed the courtroom Mekenese had come into their front room as soon as to debate biking along with her husband. “I noticed him every now and then within the bakery; I’d say hiya. I by no means thought he’d come and rape me,” she mentioned.
The previous mountain infantryman made contact with Dominique Pelicot within the on-line chatroom earlier than realising they lived lower than 200 metres aside. Mekenese lived reverse the tennis membership the place Dominique Pelicot performed. “Issues had been going badly with my ex-wife, I used to be on the lookout for love, an encounter to calm myself,” Mekenese instructed the courtroom.
Dominique Pelicot advised Mekenese first come to the home in the course of the day “to see how stunning my spouse is”, including: “If she asks, say you’ve come to debate my bike.”
Mekenese was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot on the night time of 14 November 2018. He denied rape, saying he had thought she was solely pretending to be asleep and would get up. “I’m not a rapist,” he instructed the courtroom.
His ex-wife instructed the courtroom he had as soon as threatened her with an axe.
Mekenese grew up in New Caledonia. As a young person he was abused and raped by a person his mother and father had despatched him to stay with as a labourer. The courtroom heard he had a fancy about his penis dimension and wanted fixed reassurance. He had money owed and had had durations of alcoholism.
He has a 15-month-old daughter along with his present accomplice, who instructed the courtroom she stood by him.
Thierry Postat, 61
A refrigeration specialist and father of three from Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France, Postat was convicted of rape and the possession of kid abuse pictures and handed a 12-year jail sentence.
Lots of of pictures had been discovered on a USB stick after his arrest on suspicion of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot on 21 August 2020. He admitted costs over the pictures however denied rape.
He mentioned he hadn’t seen something irregular in regards to the night time he went to the Pelicots’ residence believing he was assembly a pair. “I all the time thought Mrs Pelicot would get up,” he mentioned. “She wasn’t chilly, she wasn’t lifeless, her pores and skin was smooth.”
He mentioned he had not sought Gisèle Pelicot’s consent as a result of he had a number of expertise of encounters with {couples} when it was largely the person who gave consent for the girl. He mentioned he had had three “main” earlier experiences the place a husband had invited him to have intercourse with a spouse and “she’ll be asleep, she doesn’t need to know, we’ll movie it”. In a single case the girl had woken up. In two circumstances he had left with out seeing the ladies’s faces. He mentioned he couldn’t inform if these ladies had been asleep or not.
He instructed the courtroom: “After I go away jail, I’d wish to create an affiliation to get males like me to grasp that consent is necessary. I’d go to swingers’ golf equipment and say: ‘Don’t neglect to get consent.’”
Jérôme Vilela, 46
The previous grocery retailer employee and father of three was one of many few on trial to have admitted the costs of raping Gisèle Pelicot with the information that she had been drugged. He instructed an knowledgeable psychiatrist within the case that he had been conscious she had not consented. He was convicted by the courtroom on Thursday of rape and sentenced to 13 years in jail.
Vilela went to the Pelicots’ residence six instances between March and June 2020, in the course of the first Covid lockdown in France, to rape Gisèle Pelicot. A volunteer within the hearth service, he lived half-hour’ drive away.
He instructed the courtroom: “I didn’t hold going again as a result of rape mode was my factor however as a result of I couldn’t management my sexuality.” He mentioned he was at first attracted by the thought of getting an inert physique at his disposal and being free to behave nonetheless he needed.
He mentioned his life was outlined by sexual urges, he was often untrue to companions as a result of they “couldn’t meet my calls for” and he had tried excessive practices to interrupt the “monotony”. He mentioned he had paid “much less and fewer” consideration to his companions.
Vilela mentioned he was hooked on intercourse and that Pelicot took benefit of that. In courtroom, wanting over at Gisèle Pelicot, he mentioned he was ashamed “to have executed unhealthy to somebody who appears so pure”. At his residence, a listing was discovered of 89 sexual companions. “I wanted to depend my conquests,” he mentioned.
His present accomplice instructed the courtroom she stood by him and visited him often in jail.
He mentioned he had by no means been supported or protected by his mother and father. He had been bullied at college and as soon as forcibly stripped in public by different pupils at highschool.
Thierry Parisis, 54
A former builder who turned to alcohol when his 18-year-old son died in a highway collision, Parisis was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot and sentenced to eight years in jail.
He had been an inpatient on a psychiatric ward and affected by despair when investigators recognized him as a suspect in 2020.
Parisis had separated from his spouse just a few weeks earlier than his rape of Gisèle Pelicot in July 2020 and had left his household residence, later saying he had been unable to bear the images and recollections of his son.
He mentioned he contacted Dominique Pelicot on-line for an encounter with a pair. He denied rape, saying: “I didn’t set out from my home saying ‘I’m going to rape somebody’.” He mentioned: “I don’t perceive how she didn’t really feel something, didn’t realise.” He mentioned he thought Dominique Pelicot could have drugged him, and that he had been manipulated and brainwashed by Pelicot.
His ex-wife instructed the courtroom the rape was out of character. She mentioned she want to get again along with him.
The courtroom heard that Parisis’s mom had an alcohol dependency and his father had typically been absent.
Adrien Longeron, 34
A former constructing website supervisor from Carpentras, Longeron was convicted final yr of the rapes of three former companions in a distinct trial and is serving a 14-year jail sentence. On Thursday he was discovered responsible of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot in March 2014 and was sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Longeron had denied the cost. He mentioned he had thought he was collaborating in a sport and had not thought Gisèle Pelicot had been drugged.
Aged 23 on the time of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, he was one of many youngest males on trial. He was educated at personal college earlier than becoming a member of his father’s profitable constructing enterprise, and was described as coming from a higher-income background than most of the different males accused.
He instructed the courtroom that when he was 21 he found after a paternity take a look at that he was not the organic father of the three-year-old lady he was elevating along with his girlfriend. He mentioned from that time onwards “I had a hatred in the direction of ladies”.
The night time he raped Gisèle Pelicot, his new girlfriend was 9 months pregnant; she gave beginning 10 days later. He admitted to courtroom specialists that he had mistreated his pregnant girlfriend and known as her a whore.
The courtroom heard that he had been sexually abused by a cousin when he was 10.
Jean Tirano, 52
A former roofer born on the French Indian Ocean island of Réunion, Tirano was convicted of rape and sentenced to eight years in jail.
Tirano had been in a nine-year relationship when he drove for 2 and a half hours from Lyon to rape Gisèle Pelicot in her mattress on the night time of 21 September 2018. He had made contact with Dominique Pelicot within the chatroom, the place he used the title “Invoice”.
He instructed the courtroom: “I’m not a rapist”. He mentioned he thought Dominique Pelicot had drugged him. “I don’t keep in mind something,” he mentioned.
In courtroom he recalled many particulars of the night, together with the home, the principles of undressing within the kitchen, and seeing Gisèle Pelicot on the mattress. However he instructed the courtroom he had no reminiscence of the second of his rape of Pelicot, and recalled solely entering into his automotive afterwards when he drove residence.
Judges noticed that he did seem drugged in seven movies, through which he was lively and gave a thumbs-up signal. He was requested why, if he feared he had been drugged, he had not reported this to police. He mentioned on the time he had thought: “It was a foul encounter, neglect about it.”
The courtroom heard he had often sought encounters with {couples} for greater than a decade and had paid intercourse employees however mentioned “it felt soiled”.
Redouan El Farihi, 55
A former anaesthesia nurse in hospital working theatres in Morocco, El Farihi lived in Avignon, the place he labored as a neighborhood nurse. He was discovered responsible of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot at her residence on a Saturday night time in June 2019 and sentenced to eight years in jail.
El Farihi had instructed the courtroom he was not responsible. He denied rape, saying he was a “sufferer of a trick” and had been too “terrified” of Dominique Pelicot to say no. Confronted with video proof of a number of rapes of Gisèle Pelicot, he mentioned: “I used to be terrified, however you’ll be able to’t see it.” He mentioned he didn’t go away as a result of he feared it could destroy Pelicot’s Saturday night time.
He mentioned he had not recognized Gisèle Pelicot was sedated. Requested in courtroom how, as a educated anaesthesia nurse, he had not seen that Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious, he mentioned he had thought she was pretending to be lifeless “however by no means that she’d been drugged”, and he believed he had seen her transfer.
Patrick Aron, 60
A former manufacturing facility employee and video membership proprietor from the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Aron admitted the cost of raping Gisèle Pelicot however mentioned he took half reluctantly as a result of he was homosexual and had needed an encounter with Dominique Pelicot, not his spouse. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Aron met Dominique Pelicot within the on-line chatroom and so they messaged on Skype, the place Pelicot instructed him Gisèle Pelicot was a “prudish bitch who didn’t need threesomes” and mentioned: “I’m on the lookout for a pervert confederate to abuse my spouse, she takes sleeping tablets and I take benefit.” Aron replied: “OK.”
He instructed the courtroom he had needed a lot to have a homosexual encounter with Dominique Pelicot that he was blinded by it and brainwashed. He mentioned he raped Gisèle Pelicot “reluctantly” to “please” Dominique Pelicot. He questioned whether or not he could have been drugged.
“You’re gay however you may have dedicated a heterosexual rape, which you admit,” mentioned Antoine Camus, Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer. “On this trial we now have already heard of rapes dedicated ‘by chance’; your specificity is to plead rape dedicated ‘reluctantly’.”
Aron apologised in courtroom. He instructed the courtroom he had recognized he was homosexual from his teenage years however sought to cover it from his homophobic mother and father. He married a lady, had two youngsters, and after divorcing at 43 often met males for intercourse in saunas and backrooms of intercourse retailers within the Avignon area, and in motorway laybys.
Didier Sambuchi, 68
A former long-distance lorry driver and divorced father of two, Sambuchi mentioned he went to Dominique Pelicot’s home “solely for a gay encounter” with him. He was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot on 30 January 2019.
He had denied the cost, telling the courtroom he had thought she was pretending to be asleep. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail, two of them suspended.
In courtroom, he mentioned he had had no intention to rape Gisèle Pelicot and was merely following her husband’s directions. “It’s not me you need to be indignant with, it’s your husband,” he instructed Gisèle Pelicot in courtroom, making an attempt to catch her eye. She turned away.
He lived a 20-minute drive away, had logged on to the chatroom at 8pm one night time and two hours later went to the Pelicots’ residence, he instructed the courtroom.
The courtroom heard that Sambuchi had been raped when he was 16.
Karim Sebaoui, 40
A pc knowledgeable with two college levels, Sebaoui was discovered responsible of rape and of possession of kid abuse pictures. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
He had denied raping Gisèle Pelicot on 27 June 2020 and possessing the pictures, saying he had downloaded them “inadvertently”.
Sebaoui instructed the courtroom that on the night time he went to the Pelicots’ residence “I didn’t go there with the purpose of committing a criminal offense and I had completely no concept that Mrs Pelicot was not consenting”. Messages between him and Pelicot confirmed them discussing Gisèle Pelicot in crude phrases, referring to her not being conscious of what was happening. Sebaoui had been instructed that Gisèle Pelicot could be “asleep from alcohol and a sleeping pill” however he mentioned he had thought it was a sport.
Dominique Pelicot, who instructed Sebaoui he was a health care provider, invited him again in August. Sebaoui mentioned he feigned meals poisoning as an excuse as a result of the June encounter had been “too weird for me”.
He grew up in Marseille and had moved to a picturesque village half an hour’s drive from Mazan simply earlier than the Covid lockdowns of 2020.
Vincent Coullet, 42
Coullet, a carpenter, was convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot at her residence on two events in October 2019 and January 2020. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Coullethad a earlier conviction of home violence towards an ex-partner in 2021, for which he was given a six-month suspended sentence. The courtroom heard he had had an alcohol dependancy since he was a young person.
Coullet denied raping Gisèle Pelicot, admitting to a sexual encounter however saying he had had no intention of committing rape. He mentioned he had thought she would get up.
“I used to be on the lookout for intercourse,” he mentioned, including that he had not put a lot thought into it. He mentioned he discovered the state of affairs within the Pelicots’ bed room “weird” however trusted the truth that he was “at a pair’s residence, invited by the husband”.
He mentioned he felt no pleasure himself however went again a second time as a result of Dominique Pelicot instructed him that he and Gisèle Pelicot had “loved it”. Pelicot mentioned Gisèle Pelicot had watched a video of his first go to and “favored it”, which for him “closed the door on any doubt”, Coullet mentioned. He mentioned he felt he had “glad” the Pelicots greater than himself.
Throughout his testimony, Gisèle Pelicot acquired up and briefly left the courtroom, showing exasperated.
Jean-Marc Leloup, 74
Describing himself as a former “worldwide truck driver between Paris and Baghdad”, the divorced grandfather is the oldest of these convicted in Avignon. He was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in Could 2017 and was sentenced to 6 years in jail.
He mentioned he had all the time thought that rape was “one thing violent … executed by a madman, a brutal factor”, and that this encounter had as an alternative been a “sexual sport”. He instructed the courtroom he had solely “obeyed orders” from Dominique Pelicot. He mentioned: “She was going to get up as a result of it was a sport.”
It was solely after he left the home that he considered whether or not Gisèle Pelicot had consented, he mentioned. He didn’t alert the police. “I ought to have executed nevertheless it didn’t cross my thoughts.”
He mentioned Dominique Pelicot, whom he had met beforehand in a grocery store automotive park, instructed him he needed to “punish” his spouse for having had an affair previously.
He mentioned Pelicot requested him to come back again one other time “with a pal”, which he didn’t do, after mentioning it to a different truck driver who mentioned it wasn’t regular.
Leloup mentioned he had typically paid intercourse employees in Spain. “What truck driver hasn’t been to prostitutes?” he mentioned in courtroom.
Dominique Davies, 45
Davies, a lorry driver and former soldier, was handed a 13-year jail sentence for raping Gisèle Pelicot on six completely different events. Police discovered video proof of 5 visits to the Pelicots’ home and he instructed them of 1 additional go to.
Davies mentioned he was contacted through the chatroom in February 2015 by Dominique Pelicot who mentioned he was on the lookout for a person as a “reward” for his spouse “for Valentine’s Day”.
He denied rape, saying he had not meant to rape anybody. He instructed the courtroom: “I didn’t get up one morning and say to myself ‘hey, in the present day I’m going to go to some’s home and commit a criminal offense’.”
He mentioned that earlier than going to the Pelicots’ residence for the primary time in 2015, he requested to see Gisèle Pelicot and was despatched a video of her taken with out her information as she left the bathe. He additionally briefly visited the house pretending to be an electrician and noticed Gisèle Pelicot studying on the couch. He mentioned he felt he had sufficient ensures from Dominique Pelicot, including: “I simply forgot one huge assure – Madame’s consent.”
He’s the youngest of 16 youngsters and was positioned in care on the age of six months.
Mohamed Rafaa, 70
Rafaa, a former discotheque employee from La Rochelle who in 1999 was sentenced to 5 years in jail for raping his 17-year-old daughter, was sentenced to eight years in jail for the rape of Gisèle Pelicot on the vacation cottage of the Pelicots’ daughter, Caroline, on the island of Île-de-Ré.
Rafaa had denied the cost, telling the courtroom: “I couldn’t think about for a fraction of a second that Dominique Pelicot did that with out his spouse figuring out.” He had been involved with Dominique Pelicot through the net chatroom.
Dominique Pelicot was requested in courtroom why he had drugged and raped Gisèle Pelicot not simply on the couple’s own residence however at their daughter’s vacation residence, the place the Pelicots typically went with their grandchildren. The couple’s daughter and grandchildren weren’t on the cottage on the time.
Pelicot mentioned: “There was no symbolism, it may have occurred wherever.”
Ahmed Tbarik, 54
Tbarik, a plumber and former champion boxer married for greater than 30 years with three youngsters, was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot on the couple’s residence in June 2019. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.
He had denied rape and instructed the courtroom: “I’m not a rapist, but when I had needed to rape I wouldn’t have chosen a 57-year-old girl, I’d have chosen a reasonably one.”
He had been involved with Dominique Pelicot on a chatroom, and mentioned that on the time he was having much less intercourse along with his spouse and he “didn’t desire a mistress” however thought “why not” have an encounter with a pair. He mentioned Dominique Pelicot referred to Gisèle Pelicot as “la bourgeoise”, saying she was away loads in Paris and residential at weekends. He mentioned he had thought Gisèle Pelicot should be shy, and that he had trusted her husband.
Tbarik mentioned he travelled to the couple’s residence by automotive after his spouse had gone to mattress.
Redouane Azougagh, 40
Azougagh, an unemployed, separated father of 4 who had convictions for home violence, housebreaking and loss of life threats and had served time in jail, was discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to 9 years in jail.
Azougagh went to the Pelicots’ residence twice in 2019, and he mentioned he requested Dominique Pelicot if it was regular that Gisèle Pelicot was loud night breathing, to which he was instructed: “Sure, we like doing it like that.”
He described the Pelicots’ residence as “an exquisite home in Provence” with a “well-kept backyard”.
He mentioned he grew up on a housing property, started smoking hashish at 10 and was a sufferer of sexual abuse at this age, by an previous man he had met within the park who took him to his van. He left college at 16.
The query was raised in courtroom of a attainable analysis of schizophrenia, with one psychiatrist saying as an alternative that Azougagh had a persona dysfunction.
Mahdi Daoudi, 36
Daoudi, a transport employee and father of 1 from Avignon, was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in October 2018 and sentenced to eight years in jail.
He had denied rape. He positioned the duty on Dominique Pelicot, who he mentioned had introduced himself on-line as a part of a pair who needed to fulfill single males.
Daoudi mentioned of Gisèle Pelicot: “One can’t think about what she has been by means of, she has been destroyed and I’ve ideas not just for that poor girl however her complete entourage and household.” He mentioned it had been “horrible” for him to seek out himself caught up in one thing like this.
Cyril Beaubis, 47
Beaubis, a lorry driver who described himself as a each day client of hashish, was convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot at her residence in November 2018 and sentenced to 9 years in jail.
He was recorded by Dominique Pelicot in a video known as “With Cyril from Carpentras”. Beaubis denied rape and mentioned he had been manipulated and was not able to committing a rape. He mentioned he was additionally a sufferer of the state of affairs as he had been duped by Dominique Pelicot, whom he had met in a web-based chatroom.
He instructed the courtroom he had beforehand had encounters with {couples} he met through web sites.
Cyprien Culieras, 43
Culieras, a former lorry driver and father of 1, was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in her mattress in Mazan in 2017. He was sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Culieras had denied rape. Throughout cross-examination, he accepted {that a} sexual encounter occurred and mentioned he was sorry to Gisèle Pelicot however that he may “not say greater than that”. He instructed the courtroom: “I can’t say that it’s rape,” arguing that Dominique Pelicot had led him to consider that Gisèle Pelicot was taking part in a task in a sport and “would faux to be asleep”.
The courtroom heard that he grew up in youngsters’s properties and foster households and had suffered from alcohol dependancy as an grownup.
Quentin Hennebert, 34
A jail warden who had beforehand labored as a junior member of the motorway police, Hennebert was convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot in her mattress in November 2019. He was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Hennebert mentioned he had bought medication on the web site the place Dominique Pelicot sought males to abuse his spouse, and mentioned Dominique Pelicot instructed him he had a feminine “pal” who “had a fantasy about taking part in the sleeping girl”.
In his automotive afterwards, Hennebert mentioned, he realised “one thing wasn’t proper”; Gisèle Pelicot hadn’t been shifting. Requested why he didn’t name the police then and there, he mentioned: “I used to be ashamed, I needed to get it out of my head.”
Hennebert, who lived with a girlfriend on the time, labored as a warden within the jail exterior Avignon the place Dominique Pelicot was held after his arrest. When he learn newspaper studies of the detention, he mentioned, he knew that in the end “police would come knocking at my door”. He admitted to the cost of rape.
Hennebert mentioned he had “needed for nothing” throughout his childhood in northern France with mother and father who labored within the public sector, however that playing on sports activities betting websites had later induced him monetary difficulties. He had lately begun retraining as a member of an ambulance crew. A courtroom psychologist mentioned he had a “psychopathic persona”; one other knowledgeable psychiatrist disagreed.
Grégory Serviol, 31
A painter and decorator with seven convictions starting from possession of medication to driving offences, Serviol was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in June 2017 when she had been drugged unconscious. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.
Serviol had denied the costs. He mentioned he had believed Dominique Pelicot’s assertion that his then spouse favored to “make love whereas drunk”.
He instructed the courtroom that when he arrived within the Pelicots’ bed room, he mentioned: “Given the state she’s in, it’s probably not price it,” however Dominique Pelicot instructed him to go forward.
Testifying in courtroom, Serviol mentioned what he did was not rape. Wanting over at Gisèle Pelicot, he mentioned: “Your husband manipulated me and I do know he manipulated fairly just a few folks right here.” She seemed away.
Serviol mentioned that on the time he was 24, smoking between 10 and 15 joints a day and was fighting the lack of his child daughter at seven months’ being pregnant resulting from a coronary heart defect. He mentioned he had been afraid of Dominique Pelicot, regardless of video proof exhibiting him smiling.
The courtroom heard that Serviol’s father was in jail when he was a small boy, a truth his mother and father tried to cover by mendacity and saying the constructing through which he visited him was a hospital, not a jail. When Serviol was jailed on remand within the Pelicot case, he did equally for his stepson of the identical age, telling him the jail was a constructing website and he was working there as a painter.
Florian Rocca, 32
A supply driver beforehand convicted of 9 offences together with driving and not using a licence, housebreaking and receiving stolen items, Rocca was convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot in December 2019 and sentenced to seven years in jail.
He had denied rape, saying he had thought it was a “consenting sport between three folks”. He made contact with Dominique Pelicot on-line and some hours later went to the couple’s residence out of curiosity, he instructed the courtroom.
He mentioned he had drunk a bottle of whisky that day. “I didn’t go away my home with the intention to commit a rape,” he mentioned. In the direction of the tip he seen there was a “weird environment” within the room and he felt afraid, he mentioned. He didn’t name the police.
Rocca’s mom, a cleaner, instructed the courtroom that when she heard the costs towards her son, “I puzzled did I get one thing improper in the way in which he was raised. I do know what he did may be very severe. I don’t cover that.”
Rocca instructed the courtroom he didn’t know his organic father.
Jean-Luc La, 46
A mirror maker and father of 4, La admitted raping Gisèle Pelicot in her bed room on two events in 2018 figuring out she had been drugged unconscious. He was given a 10-year jail sentence.
At first he had thought Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had consented on her behalf and that due to this fact “it wasn’t towards the legislation,” he mentioned. He instructed a psychologist after his arrest that he had thought the definition of rape was as an alternative one thing that “occurs on the street” within the model of “in the event you don’t need it, I’ll hit you”.
La’s spouse, who’s Vietnamese, instructed the courtroom her mom was sick on the time and she or he had refused intercourse. She mentioned: “I believe as a result of I refused him on a regular basis, as a person, he needed to look elsewhere.”
Gisèle Pelicot, by means of her lawyer, mentioned La’s spouse was not liable for her husband’s actions. “There’s by no means an obligation to have sexual relations along with your husband. Do you perceive that?” the lawyer mentioned.
The courtroom heard that Dominique Pelicot had advised drugging La’s spouse so they might each rape her. “I instructed him I’d give it some thought simply to please him, however I didn’t do it,” La mentioned. “Intercourse wasn’t actually her factor.”
The courtroom heard that La had fled Vietnam by boat along with his mom as a toddler and had lived in refugee camps earlier than coming to France.
Patrice Nicolle, 55
An electrician from Carpentras, Nicolle has described himself as a “jovial” man who as soon as educated youth soccer groups. He was discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to eight years in jail.
He had denied rape, saying: “To my thoughts, it was a sport.” Regardless of video proof in courtroom exhibiting Gisèle Pelicot in an unconscious state, loud night breathing loudly, Nicolle claimed he didn’t discover she was sedated when he went to the couple’s residence in February 2020.
He mentioned he instructed Dominique Pelicot on the finish of the go to: “Your spouse seems like she’s actually asleep.” Dominique Pelicot replied that he gave his spouse tablets and would additionally take her to motorway laybys and “hand her to males”. Nicolle mentioned he known as Dominique Pelicot “sick” after which left.
Requested why he didn’t contact the police, he mentioned: “I didn’t need to waste my time on the police station. I’m a humble neighbourhood electrician … who would have believed me?”
A care employee who turned Nicolle’s girlfriend 16 months in the past whereas figuring out he was charged with rape within the Pelicot case instructed the courtroom: “He treats me like a princess.”
Abdelali Dallal, 47
A former canteen employee who has had a stroke since his arrest, Dallal admitted rape, saying he went to the Pelicots’ residence twice and raped Gisèle Pelicot when she was in a comatose state. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.
The primary time, one January night time in 2018, he requested his then girlfriend to drive him to the Pelicots’ village and look ahead to him within the automotive for an hour. She instructed the courtroom she had pushed him as a result of she was frightened about him driving drunk. She had thought he was assembly a pair for a sexual encounter however had not sought particulars. “I didn’t need to know,” she mentioned.
She described Dallal as somebody who “drank morning, midday and night time”.
Romain Vandevelde, 63
Vandevelde, a former forklift truck driver, was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot on six events over six months between 2019 and 2020 and was sentenced to fifteen years in jail.
He had denied rape, saying Dominique Pelicot “invited me in” and {that a} husband’s consent had been sufficient. He denied figuring out she was drugged, regardless of video proof exhibiting him smiling as she snored loudly.
He mentioned he first went to the Pelicots’ residence as a result of “I felt lonely. Christmas was approaching and I used to be going to be alone once more. I used to be on the lookout for friendship.”
Vandevelde instructed the courtroom he had recognized he was HIV optimistic on the time of the rapes and had not worn a condom. His lawyer mentioned that as a result of he had been on HIV remedy since his analysis in 2004, he had an undetectable viral load, which was often examined, and couldn’t transmit the virus. “I knew I wasn’t contagious,” he mentioned.
The courtroom heard that Vandevelde had been subjected to such excessive bodily violence and abuse by his mother and father that it amounted to “torture”. He was raped by a number of males as a toddler, together with a priest.
Cédric Grassot, 50
A software program technician who used to run a report store in Avignon, Grassot was discovered responsible of rape and of possessing little one abuse imagery. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Grassot raped Gisèle Pelicot at her residence in October 2017. The courtroom heard that he additionally procured from Dominique Pelicot sedatives with the purpose of drugging his girlfriend on the time. He mentioned he didn’t undergo with it. He had written a message to Dominique Pelicot about his girlfriend saying: “My dream is her getting raped on the way in which residence from work.” He had proven Pelicot the place his girlfriend lived.
Grassot mentioned he didn’t use the sedatives however that having them in his possession “gave a sense of energy”. He added: “It flatters your ego. I had the fantasy however I didn’t do it.”
He mentioned that when he went to the Pelicots’ residence, “my sexuality was already twisted … the deviance was already there.” Turning to Gisèle Pelicot in courtroom, he mentioned: “I used to be your rapist. I used to be your torturer.”
The courtroom heard that on the age of 13 he was raped by an uncle.
Hassan Ouamou, 30
Born in Marseille, Ouamou was tried in absentia for raping Gisèle Pelicot in her bed room in March 2018. After he left France, a world warrant for his arrest was issued. He was sentenced by the Avignon courtroom to 12 years in jail.
The courtroom heard that Ouamou had obtained 13 convictions between 2010 and 2017 in reference to theft, violence, medication and possession of weapons. Dominique Pelicot instructed the courtroom he remembered Ouamou coming to the Pelicots’ residence.
Cendric Venzin, 44
A former soldier within the French international legion who later turned a restaurant supervisor in Corsica, Venzin was unemployed when he went to the Pelicots’ residence twice, in 2016 and 2018. He was discovered responsible of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot and sentenced to 9 years.
Venzin had denied rape however in courtroom he modified his place and mentioned it was not attainable to disclaim the details of what had occurred. He mentioned: “I’ve all the time mentioned that I didn’t intend to rape anybody.”
He instructed the courtroom he felt tricked by Dominique Pelicot, and had believed he was going to have an encounter with a consenting couple with “fantasies”.
He mentioned that on the time he was beneath the impression that Gisèle Pelicot was consenting, however in courtroom he recognised she had not been in a state to consent. When questioned, he mentioned: “Given this case, I can think about that I raped, sure.” He apologised in courtroom and mentioned: “At present I see consent in a different way.”
Ludovick Blemeur, 39
The warehouse employee was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot one night time between Christmas and new yr in 2019 when the Pelicots had been on vacation at their daughter’s residence within the Paris space. He was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Blemeur mentioned he recognised {that a} sexual encounter occurred however instructed the courtroom he had had no intention to rape. “What I did was not premeditated,” he mentioned. He instructed the courtroom he was an everyday hashish consumer and mentioned he had been afraid of Dominique Pelicot’s response if he left the bed room. He mentioned he was a “collateral sufferer” of Dominique Pelicot, who he mentioned had used him to enact his fantasy.
After December 2019, Ludovick Blemeur, who has one little one, despatched Dominique Pelicot a message about doubtlessly assembly up once more if he was within the space, and a brand new yr message the next yr.
The courtroom heard that as a toddler Blemeur was a sufferer of a infamous intercourse offender, Fabrice Motch, a fireplace service captain convicted of drugging and raping boys who had been younger volunteers. Motch, who was sentenced to fifteen years for these offences, is serving a life sentence for homicide.
Omar Douiri, 36
A married mechanic who labored cleansing buses in Avignon, Douiri was convicted of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot at her residence in November 2017 and was sentenced to eight years in jail.
He made contact with Dominique Pelicot in a chatroom hours earlier than the rape and mentioned the older man instructed him what to do and he didn’t ask questions. Requested by a choose if he had been involved that Gisèle Pelicot appeared unconscious and didn’t react, he mentioned: “It was my first threesome and I didn’t know the way it labored.”
He mentioned he didn’t keep in mind if he had checked out Gisèle Pelicot’s face. Requested by Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer if he accepted that what he did was rape, he mentioned: “No, by no means.”
Born in Morocco, Douiri arrived in France on the age of two.
Paul Grovogui, 31
Grovogui, who instructed the courtroom he want to practice as a pastor, was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot at her residence one lunchtime in 2016 after Dominique Pelicot had drugged her at breakfast. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Grovogui admitted to the cost of rape. “I raped, I settle for it, I raped,” he instructed the courtroom. He mentioned that on the time he had not seen it as rape, as a result of he was younger (23 on the time) and needed to “have enjoyable” with out a lot thought. He mentioned that after he was proven video proof by police, he realised it was rape.
He apologised to Gisèle Pelicot, telling the courtroom: “We’re not monsters, we’re males like every others.”
Born in Guinea to folks who labored as a midwife and a pastor, Grovogui arrived in France as an unaccompanied minor aged 16, having travelled by boat to Europe. A father of 1, he has earlier convictions in France for theft and forgery, in addition to home violence.
Saifeddine Ghabi, 37
The long-distance lorry driver was accused of raping Gisèle Pelicotbut was discovered responsible of the lesser cost of sexual assault, for which he was handed a three-year jail sentence.
In courtroom, Ghabi admitted what he known as “tried rape” however denied {that a} rape occurred. He instructed the courtroom: “I recognise that I didn’t get Madame Pelicot’s consent. I’m completely acutely aware of the seriousness of the details … However for me, it’s an tried rape. That’s not to minimise it. I’m right here for Madame Pelicot to know the reality.”
The courtroom heard he grew up in Tunisia and arrived in France aged 15. He mentioned he had an “dependancy to social networks and the web” and would go on web sites for assembly companions merely out of “boredom”.
Charly Arbo, 30
A winery employee who later packed lorries for a cement firm, Arbo spent a part of his childhood within the village of Mazan the place the Pelicots lived. He raped Gisèle Pelicot on six events between 2016 and 2020, and on Thursday he was sentenced to 13 years in jail.
On the primary event, Arbo was 22 and Gisèle Pelicot was 64. Arbo and Dominique Pelicot had been accused of raping her in her mattress on the night time of her 66th birthday.
In the course of the trial, Arbo denied rape, saying: “I used to be instructed it was a situation through which she was asleep. In that situation, she was consenting. For me, I didn’t intend to rape. I didn’t need to rape her; I didn’t need to do one thing unhealthy to that household.”
Video proof confirmed Arbo discussing drugging and raping his personal mom with Dominique Pelicot. He mentioned he had been afraid of Pelicot, who had requested him if there was one other girl in his entourage who he want to rape or see raped. Arbo mentioned he advised his personal mom “as a result of it was the one girl who got here to thoughts”. He mentioned he by no means meant to undergo with it and stored making excuses.
Dominique Pelicot gave Arbo three sedative tablets wrapped in silver foil to ensure that him to sedate his mom, explaining that he ought to crush them into her meals. Arbo mentioned he by no means used them.
A courtroom psychiatrist mentioned Arbo’s “very intense use of pornography” from his early teenage years – together with pornographic cliches about moms and older ladies – had performed a task in his objectification of ladies.
Christian Lescole, 57
A fireplace officer who mentioned he had “spent 40 years of my life saving folks”, Lescole was recognized from the highest half of the fireplace service uniform he wore throughout his rape of Gisèle Pelicot in her mattress in January 2019. He was given a jail sentence of 9 years.
He had denied rape, saying he thought he had been drugged, regardless of video proof exhibiting him absolutely lively and giving a thumbs-up to the digital camera. He instructed the courtroom: “Within the video, it’s my physique nevertheless it’s not my mind.”
He mentioned that in his intensive expertise on the swinging scene, it was all the time the person who organised issues and made an strategy on behalf of the spouse. He mentioned Dominique Pelicot was a predator who hadn’t “revered the principles”.
Questioned by Gisèle Pelicot’s attorneys on the necessity to all the time ask for consent, he mentioned: “If nobody trusts anybody any extra we’ll find yourself having to ask for written authorisation on a chunk of paper.”
Lescole, who likened his idyllic southern French childhood to a novel by Marcel Pagnol, denied separate costs of possessing little one abuse imagery and was acquitted of these costs on Thursday.
Nizar Hamida, 41
A educated hairdresser who had additionally labored as a builder and supply man, Hamida was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in October 2020 and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
He mentioned he went to the Pelicots’ residence for a sexual encounter to have fun the tip of his bachelor days. He was getting married shortly after, and his wife-to-be was arriving imminently from his native Tunisia.
He instructed the courtroom: “I arrived at a home with a pool and a backyard; I by no means would have thought it was a rapist.” He mentioned Dominique Pelicot mentioned that his spouse “favored that” and he trusted him. He mentioned he now thought he too had been drugged by Dominique Pelicot: “I had purple eyes, I used to be a robotic.”
He mentioned: “I’m not a rapist … Why would I rape a lady aged over 60?”
Hamida, who has earlier convictions for home violence, had been involved with Dominique Pelicot in the course of the afternoon and went to the home just a few hours later.
Pelicot, who had been arrested and questioned by police for filming up ladies’s skirts in a grocery store a month earlier, contacted Hamida simply after leaving a court-ordered appointment with an knowledgeable psychiatrist.
Nicolas François, 42
A contract journalist for a number of native newspapers within the south of France, François had additionally labored on the town corridor press workplaces. He was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in her mattress in January 2018 and in addition convicted of possessing little one abuse imagery. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.
François mentioned he had logged into the hook-up web site Coco “each morning” to attempt to “discover a sexual accomplice”, and made contact with Dominique Pelicot there.
He mentioned he went to the Pelicots’ residence with the intention solely of getting a gay encounter with Dominique Pelicot, regardless of video proof exhibiting him on a mattress with Gisèle Pelicot. He mentioned he had proven a “lack of discernment” and may by no means have gone by means of the door.
The one little one of public sector employees, he mentioned he had had a pampered upbringing, with music tuition and tennis classes.
Joseph Cocco, 69
A retired gross sales supervisor who was a karate coach for the police for 25 years, Cocco mentioned he was skilled on the swingers scene and had typically met {couples} who invited in one other man. He was discovered responsible of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot and sentenced to a few years in jail, two of them suspended.
Cocco went to the Pelicots’ residence in June 2020, when one other man, Romain Vandevelde, was additionally within the bed room. He denied sexual assault. He mentioned he had “caressed” Gisèle Pelicot. He mentioned there was no speaking and he heard her loud night breathing and requested Dominique Pelicot what was happening. He mentioned Pelicot insulted him, so he shortly left.
He mentioned: “If I knew he’d filmed me, I’d have reported him. If I knew he drugged and raped his spouse, I’d have reported him. It’s not that I used to be scared, I didn’t know.”
The son of Italian immigrants, Cocco known as on a number of police officer mates as character witnesses on the trial who mentioned he was “respectful” and an honest man. One instructed the courtroom: “I can spot liars and he isn’t one.”
Boris Moulin, 37
Moulin, who labored at a transport firm in Avignon, was convicted of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot at her residence in January 2020 and sentenced to eight years in jail.
He mentioned he went to the Pelicots’ residence after Dominique Pelicot instructed him on-line that he was on the lookout for a person for his spouse. Earlier than he acquired there, he had three joints, two traces of cocaine and several other glasses of whisky, he instructed the courtroom.
When he arrived he thought Gisèle Pelicot was drunk, he mentioned. He instructed the courtroom he wasn’t certain if Dominique Pelicot had drugged him too. “You go into that home and also you’re lobotomised,” he mentioned.
Moulin mentioned his life had modified fully when he was 27 and had a highway accident whereas getting back from an evening out ingesting, celebrating a piece contract. He was hospitalised for 9 months, suffered from despair and used medication.
Philippe Leleu, 62
A gardener who had labored as an electrician and plumber, Leleu lived along with his mom and described himself as shy. He was single and mentioned he often paid for intercourse.
He was discovered responsible of raping Gisèle Pelicot in her mattress in June 2018 and sentenced to 5 years in jail, two of them suspended.
He mentioned he had posted a message on the web site Coco saying: “Looking for saucy girl.” Dominique Pelicot had replied, proposing a threesome.
Leleu mentioned that when he acquired to the home it was a “weird situation”. He mentioned: “I misplaced reference to my mind.” He mentioned his genitals had been “the place my mind ought to have been”.
The courtroom heard that Leleu had found in his 30s that he was born after his mom was raped aged 15 by a rugby participant.
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Data and assist for anybody affected by rape or sexual abuse points is offered from the next organisations. In France, the France Victimes community will be contacted on 116 006. Within the UK, Rape Disaster affords assist on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Eire. Within the US, Rainn affords assist on 800-656-4673. In Australia, assist is offered at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Different worldwide helplines will be discovered at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
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