LONDON — Dominique Pélicot, 72, has been discovered responsible on all counts within the huge trial that has shaken France and shocked the world.
Prosecutors demanded the utmost sentence of 20 years for Dominique Pélicot and 10 years or extra for a lot of the different co-defendants, in the event that they’re discovered responsible. Dominique Pélicot had requested his household to “settle for his apologies.”
Forty-nine of the 50 different co-defendants face aggravated rape or tried rape expenses. One co-defendant is accused of sexual assault and will withstand 4 years in jail.
Gisele Pelicot (R) is congratulated by ladies exterior the Avignon courthouse after the prosecution concluded its case amid the trial of Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging his former spouse Gisele for almost ten years and welcoming strangers to rape her at their residence in Mazan, a small city within the south of France, in Avignon, on Nov. 27, 2024.
Christophe Simon/AFP through Getty Photographs
Dominique Pélicot testified through the trial in Avignon that he blended sedatives into Gisèle Pélicot’s food and drinks so he might rape her, and that he recruited at the very least 50 different males through a web-based chat discussion board and invited them over to the household residence the place they’re alleged to have raped and sexually abused Gisèle Pélicot. Dominique acknowledged in court docket that he is responsible of the allegations and that his co-defendants understood what they had been doing, The Related Press reported.
The alleged abuse befell for nearly a decade of their residence in Provence, from 2011 to 2020. Gisèle has since divorced her husband.
Dominique Pélicot collected 20,000 images and movies and saved the proof, which later helped lead prosecutors to the 50 different defendants — “though about 20 others have not but been recognized,” The AP has reported.
Gisele Pelicot leaves the Avignon courthouse for the trial of her former companion Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for almost ten years and welcoming strangers to rape her at their residence in Mazan, a small city within the south of France, in Avignon, on Nov. 6, 2024.
Christophe Simon/AFP through Getty Photographs, FILE
The trial started on Sept. 2. Hearings befell for almost three months and included testimony from Gisèle herself, who has develop into a feminist icon in France and the world over.
She refused to remain nameless, saying in court docket at one level through the hearings that she desires ladies who’ve been raped to know that “it isn’t for us to have disgrace — it is for them,” per The AP.
ABC Information’ Tom Soufi Burridge and Hugo Leenhardt contributed to this report.
