“They lived in the house of horror”: former journalist Jean-Philippe Desbordes heavily sentenced for rape with torture

She risked 30 years in prison, he faced life imprisonment. After a week of intense debates, the Assize Court of the Ariège court ruled this Friday on the accusations brought against former journalist Jean-Philippe Desbordes. He was prosecuted for rape with acts of torture, torture and barbaric acts on the children of his ex-partner, tried at the same time for complicity, committed between 2018 and 2020, between the accused's dojo and the family home near Bélesta, where the man slept with the young girl.

Facts, including nearly 700 rapes of the eldest daughter, that the main accused has refuted since his arrest in September 2020. The 55-year-old mother first denied, minimized, then assured that she did not know and finally knew but not having been able to act, under the influence of his companion. A discourse that has evolved since his arrest and during his year and a half of detention, helped by psychologists.

“Whatever she says today, […] she acted knowingly […]. She voluntarily associated herself with the crimes of Jean-Philippe Desbordes,” said the attorney general during his requisitions this Friday, emphasizing the external activities of the accused which could have allowed her to report the acts committed in the lock-up. family enclosure. “She was not totally isolated, she lived beyond the right of way. She worked [à plein temps] and had access to means of communication. […] She must be treated as the co-author of the actions of Jean-Philippe Desbordes. […] [Ses filles] lived in the house of horror”, summarized Olivier Mouysset, who requested, taking into account an alteration of discernment, a sentence of 8 years in prison, with an order for treatment despite the absence of psychiatric pathology.

A request much lower than that addressed to the main accused, also considered criminally responsible: a minimum criminal imprisonment of 20 years, with a treatment order of 10 years, for these acts of “cruel violence”. Heavy requisitions for defense lawyers.

“We use influence to say that everyone is a victim. Why not Sylvie. B?”

Like a speaker suspended in applause, Sylvie's lawyer. B, master Julie Racoupeau, highlighted with her silences the tears of her client, supported with one hand on the shoulder by her mother. A pleading where she tried to arouse the pity of the jurors for the one who “suffered”, who “lost everything”, after her meeting with Jean-Philippe Desbordes. A man described as a narcissistic pervert who weaved his control over his prey. “We understand that no one, not an adult, has succeeded in opposing Jean-Philippe Desbordes.” Even a doctor in clinical psychology, specializing in psychic and mental control, was unable to see what was happening in the accused's dojo, during the aikido classes taught by the latter, alongside the victims, recalled the lawyer. So Sylvie.B. “Who helped her? […] No one went looking for her, even though her loved ones had no news, and they were afraid for her.” In her pleading, Maître Julie Racoupeau made her client yet another victim of Jean-Philippe Desbordes, like her ex-companions who had not been able to free themselves from the man's influence. “We use the influence to say that everyone is a victim. Why not Sylvie. B?”, questioned the lawyer, asking for leniency from the jurors by recognizing her impaired discernment.

“Is Jean-Philippe Desbordes responsible for everything? That would be comfortable,” admitted Maître Nicolas Raynaud Delage, taking the floor in his turn to defend his client, in a loud voice. “It’s a team with two horses. If one doesn’t move forward, nothing happens. […] “Which is the egg or the chicken”, even questioned the accused's counsel. “Everyone must take their responsibilities.”

Difficult childhood, “it doesn’t justify anything, but it explains”

Even his mother, a simple witness but whose “dryness of heart” could be the origin of an illness, according to the lawyer. “All unhappy children do not end up before an assize court but I do not know anyone in an assize court who did not have a difficult childhood,” pleaded Maître Nicolas Raynaud Delage, recalling the cold and detached testimony of the mother at the opening of the trial. “It doesn’t justify anything, I agree 1,000 times, but it explains.” Explanations which were lacking in the mouth of the accused, who denied everything outright this week.

“Jean-Philippe Desbordes is not a sexual predator. If that were the case, all the siblings would have the same story [une seule a dénoncé des faits de viols répétés]. I think he was in love with [Julie*]. A destructive love, but a love nonetheless,” he tried to put forward his advice.

An explanation which did not convince the jurors, who sentenced, after more than 3 hours of deliberation, Jean-Philippe Desbordes to 20 years of criminal imprisonment with an obligation of care. Sylvie. B, for his part, received a 5-year prison sentence.