he drugged her and had 50 strangers rape her

Rome, 19 December 2024 – Dominique Pelicot was “found guilty” of the aggravated rapes against his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot, in the Mazan rape trial, which ends today in Avignon. Fifty-one defendants, accused of raping the woman who had been drugged by her husband for 10 years. Sentences could go up to a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“Mr Pelicot, you are found guilty of aggravated rape against the person of Gisele Pelicot”, declared the president of the criminal court of the south-eastern French town, Roger Arata, specifying that the extent of the sentence will be announced today . The sentence was issued by the court of the department of Vaucluse, in Avignon. In the courtroom Gisele Pelicot, the woman who between 2011 and 2020 was sedated by her ex-husband Dominique and abused by dozens of strangers.

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 Dominique Pelicot were given the chance to make final statements and about half simply said they had “nothing to add”. But 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 for him, announced that “whatever the sentence” he would not he will appeal “out of respect for the victim, so that he does not have to endure” a new trial. There are among them a nurse, a journalist, a prison guard, a counselor, 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 of 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 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 down to eat with my friends, and today those friends don’t understand what’s going on.” Pelicot was also convicted of making and distributing sexually oriented photos and images of not only his wife, but his daughter Caroline and her children’s wives.