At a court in Avignon, southeastern France, a judge was reading the verdicts for 49 other men who were also accused of raping Pellicote at her husband’s invitation, and one accused of sexual assault.
Pellicote was greeted when she arrived in court on Thursday by a crowd holding signs saying: “Thank you for your courage.” She and her daughters sat in the courtroom as the verdicts were read, CBS News partner network BBC News reported.
The trial began on September 2 and Pellicote appeared before him almost every day. Ex-husbandDominique, or one of 50 other men accused of assaulting her. She insisted that the videos submitted as evidence, made by her ex-husband and showing the men assaulting her while she appeared to be unconscious, be shown in court.
Dominique Pellicote was also found guilty of attempting to rape a woman named Celia, the wife of another man, Jean-Pierre Marichal, who was one of the co-accused, as well as her daughter, Caroline, and her infidels. He was also found guilty of taking photographs. Daughter-in-law, Celine and Aurora, BBC News reported. Sitting in court, he showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out, according to the BBC.
The attacks took place between 2011 and 2020, when Dominique Pellicote was detained. Police found thousands of images and videos of the abuse on his computer drives, which helped lead them to other suspects. Some men told the court that they believed the unconscious woman was okay with it, or that her husband’s permission was sufficient.
“Gisèle Pelicot believes that the shock is necessary, so that no one can later say: ‘I didn’t know it was rape,'” her lawyer, Stephane Babuneau, told The Associated Press.
“It’s not for us to feel ashamed — it’s for them,” Pellicott declared during the trial, referring to the attackers. “Above all, I am expressing my will and determination to change this society.”
Controversial French laws
Pellicote’s case sparked protests across France, and raised hopes among some protesters that the case could lead to changes in controversial French laws governing sexual consent.
France introduced the legal age of sexual consent in 2021 after public outcry over the rape of an 11-year-old schoolgirl by a man who was initially convicted of a lesser charge. Since then, sex with someone under the age of 15 is seen as non-consensual, but French law does not refer to consent in cases of older victims.
According to Reuters, under French law, rape is defined as penetration or oral sex using “violence, coercion, threat or surprise” without regard to consent. Legal experts told Reuters that prosecutors would have to prove intent to commit rape if they were to succeed in court.
According to a study by the Institute of Public Policies, only 14 percent of rape allegations in France lead to a formal investigation.
“Why don’t we manage to get convictions? The first reason is the law,” legal expert Catherine Le Maggiores told Reuters. “The law is written in such a way that victims must conform to the stereotypes of the ‘good victim’ and ‘real rape’: an unknown assailant, use of violence, and victim resistance. But this is only true for a minority. of rape.”
“I’m trying to understand”
Speaking in court during the trial, Pellicott, who is 72, spoke of how she thought she was in a love marriage with her husband and that she had never guessed. He wouldn’t have guessed that he was giving her drugs.
“We have a glass of white wine together. I’ve never had anything strange about my potatoes,” Pellicote told the court.
“We ate. Often when there was a football match on TV, I let him watch it alone. He brought my ice cream to my bed, where I was. My favorite flavor – raspberry – and I thought: ‘How lucky I am to have a love.
He said he had no sense of being drugged.
“I never felt my heart beat. I didn’t feel anything. I must have gone down too soon. I would wake up in my pyjamas,” Pellicote told the court. She added that sometimes she was “more tired than usual, but I walk a lot and thought that was it.”
“I’m trying to understand,” she said, “how this husband, who was the perfect man, could reach her.”