The jurors in the extraordinary Mazan rape trial continue to hear from the various co-defendants. Jérome, 46, was heard on Wednesday October 2, 2024 before the Vaucluse criminal court. “I couldn’t control my sexuality,” he declared in an attempt to justify having come six times (between March 29 and June 19, 2020) to the home of the Pelicot couple to rape Gisèle Pelicot, at the invitation of her husband, reports theAgence France-Presse (AFP).
“I didn’t go back because “rape mode” suited me but because I couldn’t control my sexuality,” declared this forty-year-old, former employee of a convenience store and one of the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial, prosecuted for aggravated rape of the ex-wife of Dominique Pelicot.
He justifies his actions by his “overflowing sexuality”
From the opening of this emblematic trial of sexual violence and chemical submission, on September 2, in Avignon, this man, one of the 18 accused appearing detained, had admitted “in their entirety” the facts with which he is accused.
Read also: Rape culture, chemical submission, “Not all men”… Words to understand the Mazan trial
He went for the first time to Mazan, to the Pelicot home, in the spring of 2020, in full confinement in the face of Covid-19. This first rape occurred just after a separation and, he argued, because of his “overflowing sexuality”. “I was unable to assert myself in front of Mr. Pelicot. I don’t know how to say no to Mr. Pelicot,” he continues.
“I didn’t do anything to make it stop.”
Like the other co-defendants, Jérôme met Dominique Pelicot on the site Coco.fr, which has since been closed by the courts. “Its mode of operation was to throw photos [de sa femme] in the process, to hope that it might cause a reaction,” he said. “And for a profile like mine,” It worked, said this competitive athlete, a fan of marathons and hiking.
Read also: Will the Mazan rape trial be a turning point in the fight against sexual violence?
“In my case, these photos had an impact. I wanted to get away from it, I was running away, I hoped he wouldn’t contact me anymore, but I didn’t do anything to make it stop.” he conceded.
“It’s complicated to tell you why I wasn’t able to say “this has to stop”. I was afraid of the impact, that he would spread the photos” of him raping Gisèle Pelicot, he added from the dock.
Qualified in character “weak”, “naive”, “not very competitive” et “not very assertive” by psychological experts, Jérôme felt he had been “under the influence” by Dominique Pelicot.
