Greater than 50 males have been discovered responsible in a method or one other for the rape or sexual assault of 1 French girl, Gisele Pelicot, 72, over a decade from 2011 to 2020.
The rapes had been orchestrated by Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, 72, who has been sentenced to twenty years in jail for raping his spouse in addition to drugging her and welcoming males to their residence in France to rape her.
A panel of 5 judges, who voted by secret poll, handed Pelicot a 20-year jail sentence on Thursday, the longest sentence attainable for this crime in response to French regulation.
He won’t be eligible for parole till he has served two-thirds of his sentence. Pelicot is entitled to attraction the sentence inside 10 days of the decision, however his attorneys didn’t point out whether or not he plans to do that.
Here’s what we learn about one of many worst sexual abuse instances to be tried in fashionable French historical past:
Who has been discovered responsible of rape, and who hasn’t?
In a method or one other, all 51 defendants within the case have been discovered responsible of harming Pelicot.
Some 47 of the defendants had been discovered responsible of rape. Two males had been discovered responsible of tried rape and two had been discovered responsible of sexual assault. They had been recognized from movies of the assaults on Gisele Pelicot that her husband had filmed.
Males who featured in 20 extra movies of assaults, which had been proven in court docket, haven’t been recognized and are nonetheless at giant. In complete, police imagine Gisele Pelicot was assaulted by 72 males.
What occurred within the Gisele Pelicot case?
Gisele lived together with her husband within the village of Mazan, Provence, in southeastern France, the place they’d retired.
Pelicot’s husband was a retired electrician. The Pelicots, who are actually divorced, have three kids: Caroline, David and Florian.
From 2011 to 2020, Dominique Pelicot drugged his spouse by mixing sleeping capsules and anti-anxiety remedy Temesta, which may have a sedative impact, into her meals.
He would then recruit males on a chat web site referred to as Coco, which was shut down this summer time, to rape his spouse whereas she was unconscious. He recorded the assaults on video.
Gisele Pelicot was unaware that this was occurring and stated she believed that she and her husband had a loving relationship.
Nevertheless, for years, she skilled lapses in reminiscence, weight reduction and hair loss, fearing she was creating a critical sickness corresponding to Alzheimer’s – one thing her husband allowed her to proceed believing.
How did Gisele discover out what had occurred to her?
In November 2020, Pelicot was caught filming up a number of ladies’s skirts at a French grocery store.
Following his arrest and 100-euro ($104) nice, the police searched his laptop and found a folder named “Abuses” through which they discovered the photographs and movies of abuse.
Pelicot pleaded responsible to rape through the trial, which started on September 2 this yr.
‘Mr Everyman’: Who’re the co-defendants?
The lads had been aged between 26 to 74 and labored in professions starting from truck driver to jail guard to nurse.
As a result of the rapists and abusers are from all walks of life, they had been dubbed “Monsieur Tout-le-Monde” or “Mr Everyman”.
An area journalist, a banker, an IT employee and carpenters had been additionally among the many males. A few of them had wives and kids.
The co-defendants included:
Jean-Pierre Marechal, 63, a employee in a backyard retailer. He’s the one co-defendant who will not be accused of raping Gisele. As a substitute, he drugged and raped his personal spouse for 5 years, inviting Pelicot to do the identical. He pleaded responsible: “I used to be a rapist, however I’m not any extra.” He was sentenced to 12 years in jail for tried and aggravated rape.
Lionel Rodriguez, 44, a grocery store employee and father of three. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.
Jacques Cubeau, 73, a retired firefighter and father of two. He instructed the court docket he believed what he was taking part in was consensual. He was sentenced to 5 years.
Cyrille Delville, 54, a development employee who admitted to rape. He was sentenced to eight years.
Andy Rodriguez, 37, an unemployed alcoholic. He was discovered responsible and sentenced to 6 years.
Joan Kawai, 27, a soldier. It was revealed within the trial that he missed the start of his daughter as a result of he was assaulting Gisele Pelicot. He was discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to 10 years.
Hugues Malago, 39, a tiler who denied trying to rape Gisele. He was discovered responsible of tried rape and sentenced to 5 years.
Husamettin Dogan, 43, a development employee who was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 9 years.
Mathieu Dartus, 53, a baker who stated he had taken the drug MDMA the night time he visited the Pelicots. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
Fabien Sotto, 39, a homeless father of 4 who admitted to rape. He was discovered responsible and sentenced to 11 years.
Jean Tirano, 52, a roof mechanic who claimed he was additionally drugged by Pelicot. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Simoné Mekenes, 43, the next-door neighbour of the Pelicots and the one man within the movies Gisele recognised. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 9 years.
Redouan El Farihi, 55, a nurse who visited the Pelicots’ residence when his spouse was away in Morocco. He claimed Pelicot instructed him that Gisele was pretending to be asleep. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Thierry Postat, 61, additionally confronted prices of proudly owning greater than 1,000 items of kid pornography and zoophilic photographs. He was sentenced to 12 years and banned from working with kids for all times.
Jerome Vilela, 46, admitted to realizing that Gisele had been drugged. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 13 years.
Adrien Longeron, 34, denied raping Gisele, telling the court docket that “so long as the husband was current, there was no rape”. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 6 years.
Thierry Parisis, 54, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Vincent Coullet, 43, a carpenter. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 10 years.
Didier Sambuchi, 67, a retired truck driver. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 5 years.
Patrick Aron, 60, who was unemployed. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 6 years.
Jean-Marc Leloup, 74, a retired truck driver. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 6 years.
Karim Sebaoui, 40, an IT employee. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 10 years.
Mohamed Rafaa, 70, a former DJ and membership supervisor. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Dominique Davies, 45, a truck driver. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 13 years.
Cyprien Culieras, 44, a forklift operator who has eight prior convictions. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 6 years.
Mahdi Daoudi, 36, was discovered responsible of rape and sentenced to eight years.
Cyril Beaubis, 47, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 9 years.
Ahmed Tbarik, 54, a plumber. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Redouane Azougagh, 40, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 9 years.
Patrice Nicolle, 55, an electrician. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Gregory Serviol, 31, a plasterer who had seven prior convictions. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Abdelali Dallal, 47, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years. Nevertheless, his sentence was suspended attributable to medical points, and he will likely be positioned in a particular jail.
Jean-Luc La, 46, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 10 years.
Florian Rocca, 32, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
Quentin Hennebert, 34, a former jail guard. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
Romain Vandevelde, 63, a pensioner who’s HIV-positive and refused to make use of a condom when raping Gisele Pelicot. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to fifteen years – the longest sentence among the many co-defendants.
Cendric Venzin, 44, a restaurant supervisor. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 9 years.
Omar Douiri, 36, a cleaner who was married. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Ludovick Blemeur, 39, a warehouse employee. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
Saifeddine Ghabi, 36, a truck driver. He was discovered responsible of sexual assault however was acquitted of rape and sentenced to a few years.
Hassan Ouamou, 30, has 13 prior convictions and fled France through the investigation. He was tried in absentia, discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 12 years.
Paul Grovogui, 31, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Cedric Grassot, 50, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 12 years.
Joseph Cocco, 69, was not charged with rape. He was discovered responsible of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to a few years.
Nicolas Francois, 42, a contract journalist. He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and proudly owning baby abuse imagery. He was sentenced to eight years and banned from working close to kids.
Philippe Leleu, 62, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 5 years, two of which had been suspended.
Boris Moulin, 37, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
Christian Lescole, 57, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and proudly owning baby abuse imagery, and sentenced to 9 years.
Nizar Hamida, 41, has eight prior convictions and instructed the court docket: “I’m not a rapist. Why would I’m going and rape a 66-year-old girl?” He was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 10 years.
Charly Arbo, 30, was discovered responsible of aggravated rape and sentenced to 13 years.
The prosecutors had requested for the co-defendants to obtain between 10 and 18 years in jail, however the sentences had been principally a lot decrease than this.
Are chilly instances being reopened on account of this case?
Sure. Police suspect Pelicot might have been a serial offender accountable for different assaults over an extended interval.
Investigators in Nanterre, exterior Paris, have now positioned Pelicot below formal investigation, and have reopened two chilly instances. One is the rape and homicide of an property agent in Paris in 1991; the opposite is an tried rape in 1999.
