French mass rape trial: Gisele Pelicot’s ex-husband found guilty, sentenced to 20 years in jail

During the trial, Gisele waived her right to anonymity and demanded that the videos of the serial abuse be shown in court.

In a landmark and highly-anticipated verdict, a French court on Thursday found Dominique Pelicot,72, the former husband of France's mass rape case victim Gisele Pelicot, guilty of repeatedly drugging and raping her for almost a decade, reported by Reuters.

Pelicot's ex-husband of 50 years, Dominique, had pleaded guilty to drugging her repeatedly for almost a decade to rape her and to offer up her unconscious body for sex to dozens of strangers he had met online, while also videoing the abuse.

As requested by the prosecutors, a five-judge panel sentenced him to a maximum of 20 years in jail. The court imposed generally shorter terms than the four-to-18 years demanded by the prosecution for the 50 defendants, almost all of whom were accused of raping the comatose Gisele Pelicot.

However, most of the 50 defendants, whom Dominique had met online, denied rape, saying they thought they were taking part in a consensual sex game orchestrated by the couple and arguing that it wasn't rape if the husband approved.

Dominique denied misleading the men, saying they knew exactly what they were doing. "I am a rapist like the others in this room," he said during testimony.

In total, the court found 47 of the defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.

A cheer went up outside the court in the southern French city of Avignon among the victim's supporters when news of the first guilty verdicts filtered out.

The defendants come from all walks of life - lorry drivers, soldiers, firefighters, security guards, farm workers, a supermarket worker, a journalist and the unemployed.

The youngest suspect was just 22, while the oldest was in his early 70s. Many had children and were in relationships. Most lived within a 50-km (31-mile) radius of the Pelicots' home in the village of Mazan.

The case

From 2011 to 2020, Dominique Pelicot plied his wife with tranquilising drugs and sleeping pills without her knowledge, crushed them into powder and added them to her food and coffee.

Gisèle suffered memory loss and blackouts because of the drugs and she has spoken of 10 years of her life that have been lost, as reported by BBC.

However, the case only came to light in 2020, when Dominique was caught by the police trying to take photographs up the skirts of women in a supermarket. Police then discovered more than 20,000 photos and videos on his computer drives revealing the horrifying secrets that he had hidden from his now ex-wife for a decade.

Police believe 72 men had gone to the house to rape and abuse Gisele, but they were not able to identify them all.

During the trial, Gisele waived her right to anonymity and demanded that the videos of the serial abuse, recorded by her former husband, should be seen in court, saying she hoped this would help other women speak up. "I've decided not to be ashamed, I have done nothing wrong," she testified in October. "They are the ones who must be ashamed," she said.

She says she hopes the enormous interest in her case will help other women who have suffered sexual abuse and brushes off praise for her own bravery in letting the world see her pain.

"It's not courage. It's determination to change things," she told the court in October. "This is not just my battle, but that of all rape victims."

The trial triggered protest rallies in France in support of Gisele, including a debate on whether to update France's rape law, which at present has no mention that sex should involve consent.