Friday June 28, Dominique Boutonnat was sentenced to three years in prison, including one year for sexual assault on his godson. He was appointed in July 2019 by the Head of State and reappointed in 2022 as head of the National Cinema Center.
CNC boss Dominique Boutonnat was sentenced on Friday June 28 to three years in prison, including one year, for sexual assault on his godson. The facts allegedly took place during a stay in Greece in August 2020, when his godson was 19 years old. He immediately announced that he was leaving his position at the head of the institution while affirming his desire to appeal. The actress Judith Godrèche, who had requested the withdrawal of Dominique Boutonnat before the Senate in February, criticizes the President of the Republic and the government for having given him their support “until the verdict.
«Following his godson’s complaint, Emmanuel Macron had reappointed the president of the CNC, despite letters from unions, collectives and associations.recalled the actress in a story published on her Instagram account. Appointed in 2019 by the Head of State, Dominique Boutonnat was reappointed to his duties for a new three-year term in July 2022, more than a year after his indictment in February 2021 in this case.
The actress, who initiated the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into sexual violence in cinema, also attacked the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati: “Then, in May 2024, at the Cannes Film Festival, Rachida Dati, who nevertheless claims to be on the side of the victims, paid tribute to the president of the CNC, in front of an audience of professionals. Once again, denial, intimacy”. Rachida Dati publicly thanked Dominique Boutonnat for “his excellent work in favor of the National Center of Cinema”as reported Telerama .
“The President of the Republic played into the hands of the RN”
Statement by Judith Godrèche on Instagram.
«Having thus supported Boutonnat until the verdict means that it could be the next Minister of Culture who would choose his successor at the head of the CNC. she declares. The actress and director also criticizes the President of the Republic “of having played into the hands of the RN” by keeping him in his post.
Instagram screenshot – @judithgrodreche1
During its hearing on June 14, the Nanterre Criminal Court considered that the acts described were “particularly far in the context of a sexual assault“. Dominique Boutonnat will have to serve his one-year prison sentence at home with an electronic bracelet. “This case is the perfect demonstration of what sexual assault is. The abuse of authority and the notion of control have been recognized by the courts. My client’s victim status was recognized, which is what he expected from this trial.», Reacted to the lawyer for the civil party after the verdict.
