In France a man allowed dozens of men to rape his wife while she was sedated, was found guilty by the court and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“Mr Pelicot, you are found guilty of aggravated rape against the person of Gisele Pelicot,” declared the president of the court of Vaucluse (Avignon), Roger Arata, who shortly after announced the extent of the sentence.
The trial saw fifty men on trial in addition to Dominique Pelicot plus another who did not rape Gisele Pelicot but also repeatedly abused his own wife with the help of Pelicot himself. More than 20 other suspects remain at large as investigators failed to identify them before the trial began. The prosecution asked for 10 to 18 years in prison for the 49 defendants also accused of aggravated rape. One of these is a fugitive and tried in absentia. Another defendant, who faces the lesser charge of groping, faces up to four years in prison.
The men involved have little in common with each other: their ages range from 26 to 74, some have children and some have been convicted of other crimes. Before the verdicts, the men accused along with Pelicot were given the opportunity to make final statements and about half of them simply said they had “nothing to add”.
About fifteen asked Gisèle for forgiveness and one of them, who went to the home of the Pelicot family six times and for whom the prosecution asked for 16 years in prison, announced that “whatever the sentence” he will not appeal “out of respect for the victim, so that he does not have to endure” a new trial. Among them are a nurse, a journalist, a prison guard, a councilor, a soldier, truck drivers and farm workers.
Gisele Pelicot’s children, David, Caroline and Florian were in court to hear the verdict alongside their mother. Dominique Pelicot, described as the worst sexual predator in recent French history, He called himself a family man. He enjoyed cycling in the French countryside on Sundays, took his son and grandson to football matches and he was careful not to forget to celebrate birthdays. “My parents had this talent for throwing surprise birthday parties for us,” said their oldest son, David, “All of our friends were there, and my friends said how lucky I was to have a father like that. Everyone loved him at those parties, my friends saw him as a role model. He danced with my friends, he sat and ate with my friends, and today those friends don’t understand what’s happening.” Pelicot was also convicted of making and distributing sexually oriented photos and images of not only his wife, but his daughter Caroline and his sons’ wives.
