France: Dominique Pélicot sentenced to the maximum penalty for drugging and raping his ex-wife

A French judge sentenced Dominique Pélicot, 72, to the maximum prison term for drugging and participating in the mass rapes suffered by his ex-wife Gisèle for a decade.

"On the whole of the facts of which you are accused, you are found guilty, for aggravated rape on Gisèle Pélicot. You are thus found guilty on the facts of rape in assembly, aggravated with administration of substances to Mrs. Pélicot," said the president of the Avignon court, where the accused was tried.

Another 50 individuals who were accused have also been convicted. Some of them asked not to be found guilty as they considered that they were "manipulated" by the "monster," the "wolf," the "ogre," Dominique Pélicot, AFP reported.

The Pélicot case

The investigation into Pélicot began when he was arrested in 2020 after recording the crotch of several women without their consent. Following this event, authorities discovered on the convicted man's cell phone exchanges of messages through a well-known dating website.

In these messages, Pélicot invited strangers to rape his ex-wife - who was unconscious under the influence of drugs such as anxiolytics. The defendant recorded these acts so that the other defendants could see them later.

In addition, authorities found a folder on Pélicot's computer labeled "ABUSE" where the convicted man stored all these videos. His daughter - in an unconscious state - and his daughters-in-law also appeared in some of these films.

Pélicot, who will be behind bars for 20 years, never denied having drugged Gisèle with anxiolytics to put her to sleep and rape her along with other individuals he contacted through the internet between 2011 and 2020.