A man accused of drugging his wife and letting at least 50 men rape her while she was sedated has told a French court: “I am a rapist.”
Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing
Dominique Pelicot appeared in court in Avignon, southeast France, as he gave evidence in the case that has shocked the country.
According to local media, the 71-year-old defendant told the hearing: “I admit to the charges in their entirety.”
He added: “I am a rapist just like all the others in this room.”
While he previously confessed to investigators, his court testimony will be crucial for the panel of judges to decide on the fate of some 50 other men standing trial alongside him.
Many deny having raped Gisele Pelicot, saying they were manipulated by her then-husband or claiming they believed she was consenting.
Pelicot is said to have cleaned his wife’s body after the attacks and given the men orders so she would not wake, including warming their hands, not wearing aftershave or smelling of cigarette smoke.
The couple had been married for decades and have three children, but Pelicot was allegedly putting a powerful drug in his wife’s food to knock her out prior to the attacks.
The defendant, whose appearance was delayed due to health issues, told the court that his now ex-wife “did not deserve this”.
Mrs Pelicot was in court to hear her ex-husband’s testimony. Pic: EPA/Shutterstock
Gisele Pelicot reacts in court
Ms Pelicot – who has waived her right to anonymity – listened attentively to her ex-husband as he spoke, looking at him.
At the end of this statement, she lowered her head, putting her sunglasses back on.
“For me it is difficult to hear it,” she said, after she was given the opportunity to respond.
“For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined for a single second could do these things. I had complete confidence in this man.”
Pelicot was then asked to react and said: “I am guilty of what I did.”
He added: “I regret what I did, I ask for forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable.”
Read more:
Gisele Pelicot tells court of ‘scenes of barbarity’
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How was he caught?
Pelicot faces charges including rape, gang rape and various privacy breaches by recording and disseminating sexual images.
Prosecutors have said Pelicot offered sex with his wife on a website and filmed the abuse.
In 2020, a security agent caught him filming videos under women’s skirts in a supermarket, according to court documents.
Police searched Pelicot’s house and electronic devices and found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Ms Pelicot while she appeared to lie unconscious on their bed.
With the recordings, police were able to track down a majority of the 72 suspects they were seeking.
Pelicot: ‘I ruined everything’
“One is not born a pervert, one becomes a pervert,” Pelicot told judges, after recounting, sometimes in tears, being raped by a male nurse in hospital when he was nine years old.
“From my youth, I remember only shocks and traumas, forgotten partly thanks to her. She did not deserve this, I acknowledge it.”
Plicot added: “I was crazy about her. She replaced everything. I ruined everything.”
Other defendants on trial
In addition to Pelicot, 50 other men accused of rape are also on trial.
Some of the other defendants have said they believed Mrs Pelicot was pretending to be asleep and had in fact consented to sex. If found guilty, the defendants face up to 20 years in jail.
Christophe Huguenin-Virchaux, a lawyer for one of the defendants, told Sky News “at no point” did his client feel like what he was doing was illegal.
He said: “They just thought they were taking part in an agreed scenario between a husband and his wife.
“The husband presented the situation as the couple’s fantasy, explaining that everyone gave consent, and that as part of the fantasy there were very specific instructions that had to be followed.”
People gather in support Gisele Pelicot in Paris. Pic: AP
‘Somebody who is asleep is incapable of giving consent’
Sandrine Josso, a French MP who has spoken about the time she says her drink was spiked, has been a vocal supporter of Ms Pelicot.
She told Sky News: “The case being public allows France and the entire world to see this version of sexual violence in detail.
“To understand how predators operate, and the consequences, and in particular we can then talk about perversion, intimacy and sexuality.”
She added: “When someone is drugged, if the drugs that has been used is a sedative it’s impossible to have a debate about consent. Because somebody who is asleep is incapable of giving consent.”