[ad_1]
France’s worst-ever sexual abuse case has concluded today after a months-long trial, with a total of 51 men brought to justice for their heinous crimes against Gisele Pelicot.
Dominique Pelicot, 72, now dubbed the “Monster of Avignon”, drugged, raped and organised the repeated rape and sexual abuse of his now-ex-wife Gisele Pelicot by dozens of other men.
Among those found guilty are firefighters, soldiers, lorry drivers, a DJ, a journalist and a dad with a newborn baby, who raped 71-year-old Gisele at the behest of her husband over the course of a decade – all without her knowledge.
On Thursday, December 19 Dominique Pelicot was given a 20-year prison term by Judge Roger Arata after he pleaded guilty to drugging her repeatedly for almost a decade to rape her and to offer her unconscious body for sex to dozens of strangers.
Arata handed down guilty sentences to another 50 men besides Pelicot, many of whom contacted Gisele’s husband online and were invited to his home in the Provence village of Mazan to assault his unconscious wife on camera.
In total, the court found 47 of the defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.
Several abusers, however, have escaped justice, with the police unable to identify more than 20 men involved in Gisele’s abuse.
As the defendants emerged from the courtroom they were met with a large group of protesters who had gathered outside. They shouted “shame on you” at the defendants who hid their faces behind masks and under hoods.
Revealed below are some of the men, along with their verdicts and sentences.
Thierry Postat, 61, refrigeration specialist
The father-of-three denied raping Gisele on August 21, 2020, saying he did not see anything out of the ordinary about the night in question and had previously had encounters with couples where the man had given consent for the woman.
“I always thought Mrs Pelicot would wake up,” he told the court.
Postat was also charged with possession of hundreds of child abuse images which were found after his arrest in the Pelicot case, which he has admitted to.
Found guilty of aggravated rape and possessing child pornography, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and banned from working with children for life.
Husamettin Dogan, 43, unemployed carer for his disabled son
The married father was accused of raping Gisele in June 2019, but denied the charge.
“I don’t accept being called a rapist, I’m not a rapist,” he told the court. He claims that while it was strange to see Gisele’s legs dangling awkwardly, he thought it was “staged and part of the game”.
Dogan, who had given up part-time work to care for his disabled son, made contact with Pelicot and went to his home the same night, telling his wife he was going out.
Found guilty of aggravated rape, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Christian Lescole, 57, volunteer firefighter
Lescole, who was filmed while wearing his uniform, said in court: “My body raped her, but my brain didn’t”.
He agreed to visit the Pelicot home in Mazan one afternoon in January 2019, claiming he believed he was taking part in a sex game in which Ms Pelicot was a willing participant and was pretending to be asleep.
Found guilty of aggravated rape, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Joan Kawai, 26, soldier
The youngest of the defendants, Kawai was aged 22 when he allegedly raped Gisele on two separate visits to her home in 2019 and 2020.
The soldier first went to the house in November 2019, the day his daughter was born.
He then went back another time, and admits to having set off for a third visit, which Pelicot cancelled at the last minute.
Found guilty of aggravated rape, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Fabien Sotton, 39, convicted criminal
Sotton, who had 16 previous convictions for crimes ranging from armed robber and drug dealing to domestic violence and sexually assaulting a minor, admitted to raping Gisele in August 2018.
Gisele was drugged in her evening meal and carried by her husband to the dining room, where she was attacked, the court heard. He added that he had ‘not paid attention’ to whether or not she consented.
Found guilty of aggravated rape, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Jean-Pierre Marechal, 63
Father-of-five Marechal is the only defendant not accused of raping or assaulting Gisele.
He instead stood accused of using the same technique to drug and rape his own wife, and organising for Pelicot to rape her with him. He has been described in court as a ‘disciple’ of Pelicot.
Found guilty of drugging and raping his wife and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Paul Grovogui, 31, wants to train as a pastor
Grovogui, who was accused of raping Gisele at her home in the middle of the day in 2016 after her breakfast was drugged, told the court he wishes to train as a pastor.
He said at the time he was young, aged 23, and did not see it as rape as he had wanted to “have fun”. He went on to admit the charge, telling the court: ”I raped, I accept it, I raped”.
Grovogui apologised to Gisele, telling the court: “We are not monsters; we are men like any others”.
He was convicted of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years in prison.
Philippe Leleu, 62, gardener
The defendant met Pelicot online and organised to meet him on June 7 2018.
He denied having had any intention of raping Gisele Pelicot, saying he “only” penetrated her with his fingers.
He was found guilty of attempted rape, sentenced to five years, two of which are suspended.
Saifeddine Ghabi, 37, lorry driver
The married father-of-three stands accused of raping Gisele at her home in November 2019.
He admitted to the court that he had carried out an “attempted rape” but denied a rape had taken place.
“I recognise that I did not get Madame Pelicot’s consent. I am totally conscious of the seriousness of the facts … But for me, it’s an attempted rape. That is not to minimise it. I’m here for Madame Pelicot to know the truth,” he told the court.
He said he was addicted to social media and went online to find partners “out of boredom”.
Ghabi was found not guilty of rape or attempted rape but was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. He was not given a prison sentence.
Hassan Ouamou, 30
Ouamou remains on the run and was the only defendant not present in the courtroom.
He was found guilty in absentia of aggravated rape and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Below is the list of the remaining men found guilty along with their ages, conviction and sentence.
Lionel Rodriguez (44): aggravated rape, eight years
Jean-Luc La (46): aggravated rape, 10 years
Jacques Cubeau (73): aggravated rape, five years
Cyrille Delville (54): aggravated rape, eight years
Matthieu Dartus (53): aggravated rape, seven years
Romain Vandevelde (63): aggravated rape, 15 years
Simone Mekenese (42): aggravated rape, nine years
Jerome Vilela (46): aggravated rape, 13 years
Thierry Parisis (54): aggravated rape, eight years
Quentin Hennebert (43): aggravated rape, seven years
Jean Tirano (52): aggravated rape, eight years
Redouan El Farihi (55): aggravated rape, eight years
Didier Sambuchi (68): aggravated rape, five years
Vincent Coullet (42): aggravated rape, 10 years
Jean-Marc Leloup (74): aggravated rape, six years
Dominique Davies (45): aggravated rape 13 years
Mohamed Rafaa (70): aggravated rape, eight years
Ahmed Tbarik (54): aggravated rape, eight years
Redouane Azougagh (40): aggravated rape, nine years
Cyril Beaubis (47): aggravated rape, nine years
Gregory Serviol (31): aggravated rape, eight years
Florian Rocca (32): aggravated rape, seven years
Patrice Nicolle (55): aggravated rape, eight years
Cedric Grassot (50): aggravated rape, 12 years
Cendric Venzin (44): aggravated rape, nine years
Ludovick Blemeur (39): aggravated rape, seven years
Omar Douiri (36): aggravated rape, eight years
Cyprien Cuveras (47): aggravated rape, six years
Nizar Hamida (41): aggravated rape, 10 years
Charly Arbo (30): aggravated rape, 13 years
Boris Moulin (37): aggravated rape, eight years
Mahdi Daoudi (36): mass rape and drugging, eight years
Hugues Malago (39): attempted rape and two aggravating factors, five years
Andy Rodriguez (37): attempted rape and aggravating factors, six years.
Adrien Longeron (34): aggravated rape and child abuse imagery, six years
Karim Sebaoui (40): aggravated rape and having child abuse imagery, 10 years
Nicolas Francois (43): aggravated rape and having child abuse imagery, eight years and banned from working in jobs with children for several years.
Joseph Cocco (69): aggravated sexual assault, three years.
Abdelali Dallal (47): aggravated rape, eight years but walks free today due to medical issues; to be placed in special jail
Patrick Aron (60): aggravated rape, six years but walks free today due to medical issues; to be placed in special jail
[ad_2]
