“I was a slave, he kept me on a leash”: at the trial of Jean-Philippe Desbordes, the alleged victims break the silence

The silence was as serious as the facts denounced. This Tuesday, the court and the civil parties at the Foix court heard from the alleged victims of Jean-Philippe Desbordes, tried all this week for rape and acts of torture on the three daughters of his ex-partner, Sylvie. B, also tried for complicity. On the stand, Julie*, the central victim of the siblings, who was notably the victim of rape with acts of torture, described at length her “ordeal” from 2018 to 2019. “In the French language, there is no words to describe the horror we experienced. […] The violence was daily. We didn't have enough to eat, he made us physically exert ourselves. I don't know if the worst was when it was cold or hot. Sometimes we slept outside.” An abuse which would have been beyond for the eldest of the three sisters.

“He liked it when it was painful for me”

At the home (two terraced houses connected by a door), Jean-Philippe Desbordes allegedly made Julie his sex slave. “Little by little, he made me understand that he liked me, that I was to his liking. […] He wanted us to form a couple.” Very quickly, the young girl, 16 years old at the time, moved into the man's home. “Whether I said yes or no […]I had no choice. I understood that if I was too recalcitrant, my sisters [14 et 9 ans au moment des faits]were going to go there”, thinks the young girl, beige pants, light top with long sleeves pulled up to the fingers. The 50-year-old man then allegedly began to sexually assault Julie. “At the time, I was a page white. […] It started with him touching me through my clothes. Then he tried to penetrate me […] He was asking me to suck him.”

Also read:
“I lost my conscience”: accused of complicity in rape with torture, the ex-partner of Jean-Philippe Desbordes says she was manipulated

The beginning of hell. “He could consume me as he wanted. He had decided that I had to give him oral sex morning and evening every day, also at lunchtime when I didn't have school. He liked it when it was painful for me. I vomited”, testifies Julie, who estimates having suffered 700 rapes in one year. The victim also describes sadistic acts. “I was a slave, he kept me on a leash. […] He started to sodomize me. […] I wasn't allowed to shower. He wanted me to get pregnant. He hoped his cum would flow to my vagina. Words are so insignificant compared to the pain I experienced.”

Also read:
Rape with torture, physical abuse, deprivation of care… The trial of former journalist Jean-Philippe Desbordes opened this Monday

Methodical isolation

Already a victim of school bullying, the young girl described at length, in a calm voice and hands clasped in front, the weaknesses on which Jean-Philippe Desbordes relied on to subdue her. “I already hated myself without him. And he blamed me for everything, my way of being or not being, my way of breathing. […] I thought it was my fault.” Her little sister, Lucie*, explained for her part the social isolation imposed by their mother's partner. “After three months, I knew that if it continued, I would become crazy. […] He tried to make me believe that my father had raped me”, testifies the young girl, moved to tears. Passionate about Music and having gone to the conservatory, she was deprived of her instrument by the couple. “It may seem trivial but They asked me to return it. Music was the only thing that kept me alive. Having to stop destroyed me. It was one of the most precious things in the world and [Jean-Philippe Desbordes] knew it”, explains Lucie, black hoodie and khaki cargo pants. She has not yet managed to return to music.